The Core of Crisis
by reithedragonboy
Summary: "What you see here is Shinra's weaponry at it's finest!" the scientist cackled evilly. "All this was created from what I describe to be the heart of destruction, the very center of catastrophe; The Core of Crisis!" *Currently being rewritten.*
1. Prologue

Hello. This is a story I'm making on Final Fantasy VII with a new theme to it. It is basically going to be a zombie-type story. It all takes place inside the Shinra Company building, from beginning to end. Hope you will enjoy it.

I do not own any of the characters (except for Adeus [ah-day-us for those who are curious on how to pronounce it]). They are all owned by Square Enix.

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* * *

Prologue**

"How much longer do you think they're going to make us wait here?" a spiky blond hair boy dressed in a blue shirt and pants uniform, just like the rest of the cadets in the room with him, asked his friend, whom he was sitting next to.

"I don't know, Cloud," the person, who had black hair that was somewhat long and tied up into a ponytail at the back, replied in a whisper. "All I know is that somebody wanted almost all of the Shinra army staff, including any available 3rd to 1st class SOLDIERs, which looks like all of them to me, into the assembly room. Apparently, it must be something really important that they want to talk about."

"Well, if they don't start soon, I'm going to sneak out of this place," Cloud replied while tapping his foot impatiently. "I mean, we're the closest ones to the door. It's practically right next to us. I doubt that they would even notice one cadet missing from all of this."

"That's what you're saying now, but are you going be thinking the same thing when you get caught wandering the hallways?"

"Oh, come on, Adeus. I'm sure even you're thinking the same thing as me. Besides, they only said that this scientist of theirs named Hojo wants to tell us about a scientific breakthrough he's made. What does it have to do with us? Nothing, I tell you."

"I wouldn't say that it has completely nothing to do with us," Adeus said thoughtfully. "It does seem weird, though, that he's asking for every person who's in the Shinra army. Does what this guy has to say really affect all of us?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Cloud answered with a small huff. "I've already made up my mind, though. I'm not going to just stand around and listen to some scientist tell everybody that he's discovered something so extraordinary. If you ask me, he could have easily done the same thing by submitting an article in the Shinra newspaper."

"Wait, you're not seriously leaving, are you Cloud," his friend asked in hushed shock as the blond started to casually make his way out of the open door.

"Well, why not?" the blond asked back as he neared the exit. "We're bound to figure out whatever this scientist had to say tomorrow morning. If it's that important, then everybody will be talking about it."

"Oh, you're unbelievable, you know that?"

"I know. So are you coming with me or not?"

"You want me to ditch this assembly with you?" Adeus asked in shock.

"Don't tell me you're actually planning on staying here just to listen to the scientific crap?"

"Uh, that kind of was the plan."

"Fine, your loss of freedom. If this happens to go long into the night and you have a hard time getting up tomorrow for morning training, though, don't come crying to me about it."

"What? You don't really think it'll last that long, now do you?"

"I don't know, Adeus, but I'm not sticking around to find out. See you tomorrow morning if you're not too out of it."

"W-wait a minute, Cloud," Adeus whispered hastily as he walked as quickly and inconspicuously towards the door his friend just exited out through. "I'm going with you."

"I figured you were going to say that sooner or later," Cloud answered with a grin as he saw the black haired teen sidle alongside the walls until he was out of the doorway. "You always try to do whatever it takes whenever it comes to the training stuff that we do."

"Of course I take them seriously. Those are probably the only things that these people here look for when they're choosing who they want to have in SOLDIER."

"Is that why you decided to take my lead and ditch the assembly?"

"I…well, that's…, It doesn't have anything to do with it, Cloud! I just want to do well on my training, is all."

"Whatever you say, Adeus," the blond said with a shrug as he led the way down the hall to the cadets' quarters where they both shared a room. "I wonder, though, if Zack's going to do the same thing as us."

"SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair? I thought he came here simply because he had nothing else to do. The announcement earlier did say for any _available_ 1st Class SOLDIERs to attend."

"Oh, I wouldn't put it past him to come up with an excuse or two to get out of it. Either way, I bet you a hundred gil that he sneaks out of there."

"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't put it past him to do that. Anyway, let's hurry up and get to our rooms before one of the higher-ups catches us; then we'd really be in trouble."

And with that, the two of them continued on their way as stealthily as they could towards their rooms, hoping that none of the SOLDIERs or other personnel would catch and report them.

-Meanwhile-

_Those two are either really daring or really stupid_, a raven haired SOLDIER 1st Class situated at the back of the platform where the podium was situated on thought as he looked at Cloud and Adeus trying to leave the assembly room unnoticed. _They're really lucky I managed to distract the other 1__st__ Class here or they would have been in a world of hurt by now._

"Did you even hear what I just said, Zack?" a man of the same hair color and looking to be somewhat older asked.

"Uh, what?" Zack replied dumbly as he diverted his attention to the man next to him. "Sorry, I kind of missed the last part."

"Oi, you better start to pay attention more when someone's talking," the man said with a sigh. "That kind of behavior is something that can easily get you in trouble with the president. Anyway, I asked if you were sure that you had finished all of your business before deciding to come here?"

"Uh, I'm sure I did, Angeal," the young teen answered as he thought it over, knowing full well in the back of his head the small pile of paperwork on his desk in his room. "Oh, wait a minute. There's still that report for the Turks that I haven' t finished yet. They said that they wanted it two days from now, but I think Tseng's expecting it by tomorrow so he can look over it for any mistakes I might have made."

"Heh, that sounds just like Tseng," Angeal chuckled a bit. "Well, if you think that you have to do it, then go ahead and do it. You don't have to stay here and listen to Professor Hojo talk about whatever it is he's decided to talk about."

"Oh, trust me, I'd rather be doing paperwork than to listen to that creepy old scientist run his mouth about something that nobody cares about. To be honest with you, I think he just likes to hear himself talk about his 'scientific breakthroughs' and all that jazz."

"You keep talking like that about him and you'll find yourself in a lot of trouble; just like those two cadets that snuck out of the room while you were trying to take my attention away from them."

"Wh-what are you talking about, Angeal?" the teen asked, trying to feign ignorance on the subject. "Who managed to escape from this room?"

"Oh, cut the act, Zackary," the man said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You've been my student for so long; I can practically tell what you're doing before you even decide to do it. Before those two even left, I figured that they were going to pull something like that while you unconsciously help them."

"Nothing I do can get past you, can it?" Zack asked with a nervous half-grin.

"Fortunately for me, no. I'll tell you what: If they don't get caught, I won't report you. However, if they are caught, then I'll let Director Lazard know that you helped two cadets leave a conference when they weren't supposed to."

"I hope that you're not going to make me promise to that and then just conveniently find them wandering the hallways, are you?"

"Where's the honor of making a promise, then, if that's what I had planned all along? Besides, I could just get you in trouble right now if I wanted to."

"Good point. Alright, if they don't get caught, you won't say anything about this to anyone."

"Be thankful that I actually put up with your antics every now and then."

_Yeesh, I didn't think that I was that noticeable_, the teen thought. _I really hope that Cloud and Audeus don't do something stupid and get themselves caught. If they do, then I'll personally give them hell the next time I see them for training_.

"Alright then, Angeal. I better make my back to my room now if I ever plan on finishing the paperwork for Tseng tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Try not to get yourself sidetracked on your way there," the man said in a knowing tone.

"I won't," Zack answered as he walked off the podium and made his way to the exit nearest him. "Just try not to fall asleep while listening to the lecture. I'll probably ask you about it in case we have a meeting regarding this speech."

"I'm not your personal recorder, Zackary."

"I know, but you'll still end up helping me with that. Anyway, I got to get going now. See you tomorrow, Angeal!"

With a small wave of his hand, the young SOLDIER 1st Class got of the platform and made his way towards the nearest door. A few of the 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERS and a couple of daring cadets looked at him as Zack softly hummed to himself as he passed them by. Apparently, he was happy that he found a way to get out of being here right now.

"Restless little pup," Angeal mumbled to himself with a roll of his eyes. "Always managing to find some way to get out of listening to Hojo's speeches. Hopefully, he's not going to miss out on much this time around."

* * *

Sorry that this chapter is somewhat short. I did not want to give out too much info before the main story itself started. I do hope, though, that I managed to establish where the main characters are just as the story itself begins. Hope you enjoyed it, despite what might be a possibly confusing prologue.


	2. Beginning of a Nightmare

**Chapter 1: Beginning of a Nightmare**

"Do you think they're finished with that assembly yet, Adeus?" Cloud asked while laying on top of his bed in his and Adeus's room with some playing cards lying on the floor. They have been playing cards ever since they snuck out of the assembly room a couple of hours now. "I mean, I don't think it takes this long to talk about a breakthrough a scientist made."

"Maybe this particular one likes to bask in his own glory," Adeus said in a joking manner. "I overheard from a couple of 2nd Class SOLDIERs out in the hallways before we entered the assembly hall that Professor Hojo, the one who organized the assembly, loves to make all of his scientific research and breakthroughs known throughout Shinra. They say that he's doing all this so he can one day become famous just like his predecessor, Professor Gast. Sounds more like he only wants to brag about his work if you ask me. I mean, who goes through all this trouble these days just so they can tell people about a discovery they made?"

"Crazy people, that's who," the blond replied with a chuckle as he got off the bed and started to collect the cards. "I never hear of SOLDIERs bragging about everything they did on their missions, so why should a scientist like him get the right to do so? Not exactly proper etiquette, if you get what I'm saying?"

"I second that thought, man," the raven haired roommate agreed as he tossed a card box to his friend. "I promise you this; you won't be seeing me bragging on about what I do once I make it into SOLDIER. I don't know about you, though, seeing as how you told me it's always been your dream to become a part of SOLDIER. You'd probably be too darn excited to even notice that you're bragging before you even realize it."

"Oh, trust me. If I ever start to brag, it'll never be at the same magnitude as Professor Hojo made it. I'd do it as discreetly as possible."

"How, by calling your parents back at home and talking for hours on end about every little detail from your first mission?"

"Oh, shut up Adeus. What about you? Are you taking all this training stuff so seriously so you can get all buffed out and impress all of the girls by showing off your six pack and flexing your biceps?"

"That's pretty much the idea," Adeus admitted happily. "If you're going to become strong through all this rigorous training just so you can get a spot as a SOLDIER 3rd Class, why not also try to do it so you can impress the ladies too? It sounds like a win-win situation for me."

Well, how about you also try making yourself mentally fit instead of just physically?" Cloud suggested with a roll of his eyes as he set the deck of cards on a nightstand. "If you keep that head of yours in the gutter too long, everything's going to pass by before you even know what's happening. You know that they want to test our knowledge in battle tactics too, right?"

"Oh, I know that. What's the point, though, on studying battle tactics if we're not even insured a spot in the 3rd Class SOLDIER program? Unless they have a special division for cadets and grunts like us where we can be in the front line of the action the whole time, I don't see much of a point."

"Have you ever thought of how it might be able to save your butt if you know them? Don't forget that a grunt's life is also at risk despite being around so many others that might be acting as your personal human shield."

"Hey, that might be a good idea, using a person as a human shield during a mission. That might be a good way to save myself from getting shot of something like that."

At this remark, all Cloud could do was roll his eyes in annoyance. He quickly waved his roommate off and made for the top of the bunk bed where he slept.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Adeus proclaimed with humor surrounding his voice. "I'm not that heartless to be using a live person as my shield. Although if the person was already dead, then I think that would have to be another story."

"Uh, I think that's even worse, Adeus," the blond sighed exasperatedly as he laid on his side, his back facing the wall that was connected to the bed. "The one thing that you should do for the dead is let them rest in peace, not having them become a personal shield just so they can take the bullets. That just sounds so wrong on many different levels."

"You keep thinking like that and you'll be dead in the battlefield, Cloud" the teen replied as he sat down on the bottom bed. "Your morals, personal or not, should be thrown away when in battle. You do whatever you have to do just so you can survive. Of course, I'm not saying that you should always be using dead people as protection, but if that's going to save your skin, then just do it. Besides, it's not like the dead are going to be giving any complaints about it, right? After all, they're already as dead as they could be. A few extra bullets in them won't hurt."

"Okay, that last sentence just sounded totally wrong. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that and remember the other stuff that you told me. Anyway, moving on to a less morbid topic…,"

Cloud never did get a chance to change the topic because a shrill sound reached his ears. Even with the protection of the walls and their door shut, it was still quite sharp that he had to cover his ears. It probably lasted for a good five or so seconds before it died down. Hearing the silence once more, he took his hands off his ears and had a "what-the-hell" look on his face.

"_Please_ tell me that wasn't you, Adeus," the blond stated as he put emphasis on the very first word. "If that was your idea of a joke, then I'll show you my joke by killing you."

"I swear, Cloud, that was not me," Adeus replied as he stood up from his bed and picked at his ears a bit in an attempt to get the ringing sensation out. "I think someone else is trying to play a joke on us."

"Well, that wasn't exactly a very good one. The person screaming sure had a good set of lungs in order to have pierced through the walls with his voice."

"Maybe we should go outside and check it out a bit," the raven haired teen suggested as Cloud hopped off from the top bunk. "Who knows, maybe somebody really needs some help?"

"Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense," Cloud answered sarcastically. "Somebody outside our room is in desperate need of help, so instead of screaming out 'Help!' like a normal person does, he opts to go for the more feminine route by screaming at the top of his lungs 'Ahhh!' That does not make any sense to me."

"Life is full of things that don't make sense," Adeus retorted with a roll of his eyes at his roommate's previous reply. "Anyway, I'm going to go and see what's going on out there. Are you coming or not?"

"Have you ever heard the expression, 'Curiosity killed the cat?'" the blond sighed as he walked towards the door that Adeus was busy trying to unlock on the number pad next to it. "This is one of those times I think we should just stay out of whatever's going on outside. I don't really have a good feeling about this, to be honest."

"Fine, you stay here and play it safe while I play dangerously and take a look."

"Hey, I didn't say I was going to stay behind! I was just saying that I don't like this one bit."

"If you're going to come with me, then stop complaining and start moving. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? For all we know, someone could just be pulling an innocent prank on someone."

Still giving off a look of uncertainty, Cloud merely nodded his head. Arguing about what they thought was going on was bringing them nowhere. The only way they can figure out what that scream from earlier was about was to open their door and peek outside. And that's exactly what they were about to do as Adeus pressed enter on the number pad and the door parted from the center and opened up, revealing the white walls of the cadets' barracks' hallway.

-Meanwhile-

"How much longer until I'm done with this piece of paperwork?" Zack whined as he continued to sit hunched over his desk with a pen in his hand. "I've been working on these papers inside the folder Tseng gave me for two hours now. When he handed me the folder and said that there were only a few, I thought he meant three or four. Since when did a few constitute for twenty sheets in one folder? He must be living in a different world to call twenty sheets a few."

Putting his pen down for a short break, the spiky black haired 1st Class SOLDIER glanced at the manila folder that sat open on the edge of the wooden desk. Lying on top of it were two piles of paper. One had the text faced downwards; the other stood face up and showed some empty spaces on designated portions of the work. Apparently, the face-down ones were the ones that were already finished while the others were the exact opposite.

"Let me see," he mumbled as he started to visually count the papers that were in the face-down stack. "I got fifteen done already, so I only have five more left to do, including the one I'm working on right now. Fifteen in two hours… It's probably going to take me another forty minutes to finish up the rest. Might as well take a break now seeing as I'm going to have a long night ahead of me."

With a small sigh, Zack got up from his computer chair and started to stretch a bit. He popped his shoulders a couple of times, grunting in content every time he did so. Feeling his stomach growl a bit, he walked towards his kitchen in search of a late night snack. Just as he was about halfway there, a wall clock chimed in at ten.

"Ten already, huh?" he said as he counted soft chimes of the clock. "I suppose that they're done with the assembly by now. Hojo might like to brag about all his stuff, but even he doesn't have the authority to hold the cadets past their curfew. Ah well, it's not I care anyway. I'd rather be doing work in here than listen to another of his boring drabble. I swear, all that man wants from everybody in here is attention."

From the kitchen, he made his way to one of the cabinets above the counters and opened it. Without really looking, he grabbed a bag of chips and brought them down, quickly opening it and popping a few into his mouth.

_I wonder if Cloud and Adeus managed to sneak back to their rooms_? he thought as he continued to munch on the chips while leaning on the counter. _If I get in trouble with Angeal because of them getting caught, they're so going to get it from me. I don't blame them for leaving, though. Even they could tell the professor's speech was going to be boring. Maybe…_

However, his train of thought was rudely interrupted by a lot of loud sounds coming from the hallway outside of his SOLDIER 1st Class room. Putting his chips down and brushing the crumbs off of his SOLDIER uniform that he chose not to change out of yet, Zack slowly walked out of the kitchen and towards his door, all the while trying to listen to the loud noises.

"Help, somebody help me!" a man's terrified shouts reached his ears clearly, despite the thick walls and door that were in between them. "This thing's trying to… No! Stay away, you hear me?! I said stay away! Stay away!! Aaahhh…!!!"

Startled by the intensity of the bloodcurdling scream, Zack stopped short from placing his hands on the keypad beside his door. Figuring that whoever was screaming just now was not doing it for kicks, he decided to listen carefully through the thick door, a feat easily accomplished due to his hearing stimulated by the regular Mako injections every SOLDIER received periodically. For a moment, he heard nothing. Then, he heard some kind of swift movement coming from the right side of the hall. However, it only lasted for a moment before it was eerily silent once more.

"Okay," he said very slowly as he started to back away from the door. "Something definitely doesn't seem right here. What was all that screaming just now about? What happened to that man? Maybe I should go outside and take a quick look. Before I do that, though…"

He quickly turned around and started to walk towards the center of his room where a coffee table and a sofa were situated at. On the coffee table was a sword; a big wide sword that was given to him by Angeal upon his succession to SOLDIER 1st Class. He picked it up from its resting spot and placed it onto his back.

"Better bring this with me, too, just in case," he said as he also picked up a couple of stones, both green in color, and placed them onto his armlet. "Can't be too careful these days. Now I'm ready to go and see what all the commotion was about."

Once again, Zack made his way towards the door. This time, he punched in the code to his door. Before he pressed the enter button, he made one last check to make sure he had everything on him.

"Sword…check," he mumbled as he made a mental checklist. "Materia, one recovery and one elemental based…check. SOLDIER 1st Class ID card…check. I am good to go!" he confirmed with a smile.

Seeing that he had everything on him, he pressed the enter button and waited patiently for the door to open.

"Alright," he said excitedly as the doors started to open. "Whatever's out there, you better prepare yourself for a beating because 1st Class SOLDIER Zack is on the job!"


	3. Steppng on Hell's Welcome Mat

**Chapter 2: Stepping on Hell's Welcome Mat**

"So what do you think is going on outside?" Cloud asked as the door to the hallway completely opened.

"For all I know, it could be just someone playing a huge prank on someone," Adeus replied with a shrug. "We won't find out, though, if we just stay sitting in here, now will we? So come on, let's go do some investigating!"

"You know, you sure act a lot like Zack from time to time," the blond said with a sigh as he saw the raven haired teen walk cautiously out of the safety of their room. "It kind of gets annoying."

"Well, everything looks normal out here," the teen said, oblivious to what Cloud had just said. "I don't see anybody who looked like they were screaming."

"Actually, I don't see anybody out here period," Cloud said as he, too, exited their room. "Don't tell me they're still in that assembly."

"They could be for all I know. Anyway, think we should keep going down this hall to see if we can find our mysterious screamer?"

"Might as well. I am starting to get bored of playing nothing but cards for two hours straight."

Without saying another word, the two friends proceeded to walk slowly down the hallway, both of them eager to figure out what that strange scream was about. Actually, Cloud was more nervous than eager. He still had that uneasy feeling from before and he just could not shake it off.

"Everything looks okay so far," Adeus noticed as they neared a turn in the hall. "Maybe we'll see something different on the next turn."

"Different as in the leftovers of a gag that was pulled by someone on someone?" the blond asked skeptically.

"I'm hoping it's somewhere along those lines," the raven haired teen replied with a shrug as he hugged the wall right next to the turn. "Even if it isn't, the worst we'd probably see is a person who's on the ground fainted."

"That scream sounded more like someone dying rather than being scared if you ask me."

"Oh, stop giving me all those gloomy and morbid thoughts, Cloud. I'm sure it's nothing as bad…as…that…"

Adeus's sentence trailed off as he poked his head out to see the next part of the hallway. Suffice to say, whatever it was that he saw was so shocking, it practically shut him up, which was a surprise to Cloud because he knew that his roommate loved to talk nonstop. Curious as to what was so shocking; he decided to take a look for himself. It was at that moment that he regretted doing so.

What Adeus said earlier in a joking manner was somewhat correct. There was, indeed, a person lying on the floor. However, he looked anything but fainted. On the floor around him was a puddle of red liquid that Cloud construed to be blood. That and the crimson liquid's metallic scent came into contact with his nose, his face trapped in a gaze of absolute horror at the sight.

"My god…," the black haired teen whispered as he dared to approach the seemingly severely injured person. "This definitely doesn't seem like a joke."

"Wh-what are you doing, Adeus?" Cloud asked, fear reverberating through his voice. "You're not trying to get closer to him, are you?"

"Well, someone's got to make sure if this is all real or not," Adeus replied as calmly as he could as he was now hovering over the person and crouching down to better assess the situation. "…The more I look at this, the more I feel like this isn't a joke. Let me see…, ah!"

"What is it?" Cloud exclaimed as his legs started to carry him towards the body, despite his mental protests.

"…This… This is real, alright. Take a look at his neck and you'll see what I mean."

Against his better judgment, the blond followed his friend's instructions and looked at the neck. Actually, looking at what was left of it would have been a better description. The spot was so bloody; it was hard to really discern anything. However, a deep gash was plainly visible along with a few shards of bone and cartilages sticking out from it.

"My…god…," the blond whispered weakly as he immediately looked away, his stomach all of a sudden not feeling so well and acting queasy.

"My thoughts exactly," Adeus nodded in agreement as he, too, turned away from the gruesome sight. "…Let's go to the assembly room, Cloud?"

"Th-the assembly room? What for?"

"I think we have a killer loose in the building, a very messy and brutal one at that, too, by the looks of it. We need to warn everybody before someone else ends up dead, if it hasn't already happened."

"B-but what if the killer finds us first, Adeus? What are we supposed to do then? I really don't think that we're experienced enough to take care of him by ourselves."

"Well," the raven teen thought as his eyes suddenly went back to the dead body, "maybe we can try to take some shortcuts along the way. That way, we'll have less chances of running into the guy. Let me see what this guy had on him and see if there's anything useful."

"You're going to be raiding his body for stuff that might be useful?" Cloud asked in disbelief. "That just feels so morally wrong."

"Unless you have a better idea for me, don't start with moralities," Adeus replied ion a dead serious tone as he started to sift through the body. "In case you haven't noticed already, we don't necessarily have weapons on us. All of the weapons are locked in the armory and we can't get to them without either receiving specific orders to do so or being a 2nd Class SOLDIER or higher. If we're lucky, we might be able to get at least a gun from this man. Also, if he's a member of SOLDIER, then we'll be able to use his ID card to take a couple of shortcuts and get to the assembly room quicker. It just so happens that we are that lucky."

Upon saying this, he pulled out two handguns from the body's belt area and threw one to Cloud. Inside the coat pocket the person was wearing, he also pulled out an ID card that said "SOLDIER 2nd Class ID" on it. Thankfully, the card was laminated, so he just simply wiped away the blood that was splattered onto it with the clean part of the dead man's coat.

"Hmm, 'Jaron Thead: SOLDIER, 2nd Class'," Cloud read over Adeus's shoulder, despite the look of annoyance the raven haired teen shot him. "This guy was a 2nd Class SOLDIER?"

"Apparently so," Adeus replied as he tucked the card away into his pocket and started to walk further down the hallway and towards the assembly room. "That just tells us one thing: Whoever took this guy down either was a SOLDIER 1st Class or the killer somehow took him by surprise. We're really going to have to be careful from here lest we want to become the next hapless victims."

"Oh, please don't say things like that, Adeus" Cloud whimpered as he followed his friend and readied his gun for whatever was going to happen. "I'm already scared and nervous enough about this whole thing as it is. You talking like that is really not helping much, either."

"Look, let's just hurry up and get to the assembly room. The faster we get there, the sooner we can stop worrying about losing out lives to some crazed killer that's loose within the building."

"I suppose you're right," the blond sighed as the two continued on down the hall in a cautious manner. "I just hope this whole situation doesn't become any more worse than it already is."

"Oh, come on, Cloud," the raven haired teen said in a joking tone, an attempt to lighten the mood. "What could be possibly even worse than having some random killer right under our noses inside this building?"

-Meanwhile-

"What am I suppose to be looking for, besides a person who sounds like he just died?" Zack asked himself as he poked his head out of his room and looked around. "I mean, if there is a dead guy near here, then there's a serious breach of security or a backstabber in this place. I'm willing to bet my money on a breach of security, even though it sounds highly unlikely."

Seeing that everything outside his immediate area was as normal as it could be, he quickly slipped out of his room and allowed the door to close shut behind him. He then contemplated on which direction he should start first.

"Maybe I should start checking down the right side of this hallway," he said out loud as he started to walk in that direction. "After all, it was from somewhere there where I heard that loud bloodcurdling shriek. I swear that was probably sharp enough to break a window."

As he continued to mumble to himself, his legs followed the path of the hallway. Soon, he came to a turn in the path and smoothly went past it, not bothering to even check if there was something out of the ordinary, which there was in this case. He immediately froze in his tracks and just stared in shock at the scene that was literally lying on the ground in front of him.

"What in Gaia…?!" he exclaimed as he saw something he truly did not expect. "What in the world happened here? Is that…a body I'm looking at? I really can't tell, but…I think it is. Oh, boy…"

From his position, he very slowly walked towards what he presumed to be a body, the figure so mangled and bloody it was hard to discern what it really was. Once he was close enough, he saw a tuft of brown hair stained with the crimson color of blood, thus confirming his suspicions on this being a person.

"I've…never seen anything like this," Zack said uneasily as he continued to stare at the body. "Even those that have died out in the field don't look as bad as this. This looks like somebody was tossing him around like a rag doll before getting angry with him and slashing at him with a knife. I can't really tell, but I think its death…through multiple slashes with a sword?"

From his initial assessment of the terribly mangled body, he noticed many cuts on the clothing practically reducing it to pitiful shreds. It was so shredded that he was barely able to recognize a Shinra-issue tie from the whole mess; the tie indicating that the dead person was one of the many executive workers of the Shinra Company. The body itself was too bloody to really tell if the cuts were really that bad and how many there were, but he took a guess and figured that the slashes were plenty, seeing as there was such a big pool of blood surrounding the poor body.

"What in the world did this to the poor guy?" he sighed heavily as he got up from his kneeling position. "I don't think that a human would have been this brutal in their attack. We can tell if the person we attacked is dead or not. A monster, though, might continue to attack regardless. So if my hunch is correct and it really was a monster who did this, the question then would be what kind and where it is. The next thing would then be to wonder how in the world it even managed to get into the building in the first place. The Shinra building has one of the top security systems guarding it from monsters ever coming inside. It doesn't make any sense."

Shaking his head sadly and in a confused manner, the SOLDIER 1st Class started walking away from the body and further down the hall. He was determined to find whatever it was that caused such a horrific death and put it out of their misery. It was then that it dawned on him about the assembly that was going on and the possibility that it could have made its way there.

"Some of the cadets and other SOLDIER members might still be in there!" he exclaimed as he started to make a mad dash towards the assembly room, hoping that the monster did not manage to make its way there and kill everybody in there. "I got to hurry there and warn them! I mean, I'm sure Angeal and the other 1st Class SOLDIERs can handle themselves well, but I really don't think that they would be able to protect everyone. They're definitely not that good. Maybe if I can…"

However, his thought was cut short as he stopped dead in his tracks. Right in front of him were a few cadets that he recognized from the assembly room earlier. They were running towards him in apparent fright.

…_I guess that they heard the news,_ he thought grimly.

"A-are you a SOLDIER?" one of cadets asked breathless and with fear laced in his voice.

"Yeah, I am," Zack nodded as the three stopped right in front of him. "What's going on here? What are you three running from? Did you guys come from the assembly room?"

"Don't go back there, sir!" a second one shouted as he ran pasted the raven haired teen and his two friends without so much as sparing a glance back. "Everybody's gone crazy in there! I don't know about you, but I'm going back to my room and staying there until this whole thing blows over! There's no way in hell I'm going to go back there until those…things and that monster are dead!"

"H-hey, wait for us!" the third one shouted as he followed close behind the second cadet. "Don't leave us behind!

"W-wait a minute!" the SOLDIER exclaimed as he quickly took hold of the first cadet's shoulders before he had a chance to catch up with his friends. "What 'things' are you talking about? What monster? Can you please tell me just what exactly is going on in the assembly room?"

"Some people started to attack others during the assembly!" the cadet quickly explained. "They went crazy and started to bite the others. It was almost as if they were possessed or something. Then, a monster with large sickle-like arms busted through one of the doors and went on a slicing rampage! The three of us managed to get out of there, but I don't know about the others."

"B-biting each other?" Zack asked, letting go of the cadet in shock at what he had just heard. "You…you must be joking about that."

"I'm not kidding, sir!" the cadet hastily replied as he made a mad dash to catch up to his friends. "I'm as serious about them and the monster just as I am about hiding out in my room."

"Wait, what about the SOLDIER members that were in there with you?"

"They either escaped or were torn to shreds!" the cadet shouted just as he turned the corner and disappeared from view. "Don't go there if you know what's good for you!"

Zack would have yelled at the cadet to come back, but he was too shocked at the information he had just received. Even if he was well composed, he doubted that he would have listened anyway. He was way too scared to think of anything except what was already on his mind; running to his room and hiding.

"'They either escaped or were torn to shreds?'" he repeated the words dumbly. "'They went crazy and started to bite each other?' I really hope that cadet was just kidding around with me. Although seeing how traumatized he looked and acted, I'd say it was anything but a joke. Oh, I hope Angeal's alright in there. I really hope it's not as bad as they made it out to be. Maybe I should just go there and see for myself how bad everything really is."

Without giving it another thought, Zack started for the direction of the assembly room, the same direction that the three cadets previously came running from. Yes, his mind was on the wellbeing of his long-time mentor, but it was also on the safety of the others that were in there. What exactly was going on around here tonight? Why, according to the three cadets, did some of the people go insane? Why was there a monster running loose within the Shinra Company building? All these things just were not adding up in his head nor did he think they ever will. At least, not until he managed to dig up some reliable answers.

_I'm very sure the SOLDIERs, especially the 1__st__ Class members, can take care of themselves for now_, he thought as he concentrated on every step he took. _I'm more worried about the cadets. They hardly know anything about combat. Even though only we SOLDIER 1__st__ Class members have the right to carry a weapon with us at all times, the 2__nd__ and 3__rd__ class at least have some hand-to-hand combat experience. Most of the cadets are only just learning that. Thank god I went the extra mile and taught Cloud and Adeus not only close combat, but also how to wield a gun._

It was then he suddenly remembered the two cadets that he was assigned to mentor. He mentally sighed in relief as he remembered that they decided to ditch earlier that evening.

_Thank Gaia they weren't there. I just hope they're still in their rooms and not wondering around. If they are, then Gaia help them remember the things I taught them._

With that last worried thought, Zack focused all of his efforts in getting to the assembly room, hoping that whatever happened in there stayed in there.

* * *

Hello, everybody. I hope you all like this chapter. I nearly creeped myself out while writing the graphic parts of the story. Hope you liked it. If you didn't, well... Anyway, please read and review! I would like to have at least one review for this story before I can keep going. After all, horror type stories are not exactly my forte and I would like to know from my fellow readers and peers on how I am doing in that department. Until the next update!


	4. From A Nightmare Into Reality

**Chapter 3: From A Nightmare Into Reality**

For the next couple of minutes, Cloud and Adeus walked silently side by side. Their destination: The assembly room. Their purpose in doing so: To warn everybody in there that somebody just killed a SOLDIER and might still be wandering around the building; looking for his next poor victim.

"Adeus?" Cloud asked quietly, breaking the tense silence between the two teens. "A-are you sure it was a person who killed that SOLDIER we saw earlier?"

"I'm as sure as I can be, Cloud," Adeus nodded without looking at the blond. "I don't see any other way that guy could have died."

"But there's something about the whole scene that makes me feel uneasy," the spiky haired teen said. "Could a person really kill someone by slicing their throat so deep that they actually manage to come into contact with bone and cartilage? That's the only thing that doesn't make sense to me."

"Now that you mention it, that did seem pretty odd," his roommate admitted with a thoughtful nod. "I do hope, though, that you're not suggesting to me that it wasn't a person, but a monster, that killed him? Because if that's what you're trying to tell me, then I find that really hard to believe."

"But you can't say that it's not possible! I know that this building is protected by the most advanced security system that Shinra has ever created. However, you can't just abandon the possibility that a monster actually managed to make its way in here. I mean, I don't think that a person would have been capable of killing someone in such an extreme fashion."

For a moment, Adeus said nothing and the two went back to their silent walk. It was only when they had stopped in front of a door did he start to speak again.

"You're right, Cloud," the raven haired teen admitted with a sigh as he pulled out the SOLDIER ID card from his pants pocket. "Nobody could have been that extreme while committing a murder. The only thing bugging me now is how did a monster managed to make its way through all that security? Oh well, standing around here isn't going to be getting us anywhere. Let's hurry up and get to the assembly room. The faster we get there, the sooner we can start figuring out what's going on here."

With that said, Adeus swiped the card in the slot that was adjacent to a keypad beside the door. After the keypad flashed green, he put the card back into his pocket as the door started to open.

"This is the utility closet," he said as he quickly scanned the room. "There's a door on the other side of the room. That should take us to the other side of the hall where one of the entrances to the assembly room is."

"How do you know that, Adeus?" Cloud asked as he saw his roommate walk into the room first with him following close behind.

"I remember seeing a janitor going into one of these closets when we were first about to enter the assembly room. I can take a guess that this is the same one he went in. If I'm right, then this is the greatest shortcut I've ever seen."

"Now's not the time to be happy that you found a shortcut."

"I know. Anyway, I'm going to open this door now. Be ready for anything."

Cocking his gun as an answer, Cloud started to aim towards the door. Adeus slowly opened the door until they were able to get a good view of the hallway. They saw nothing out of the ordinary, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

"So far, so good," Cloud whispered as his roommate cautiously entered the hallway. "Let's hurry up and warn the others already. I want to get this entire thing over with as soon as possible."

"Alright, let's make a run for it then," he suggested. "I don't want to be in this hallway too long either. Who knows where this monster, if there even is one, is hiding? For all we know, he could be in the shadows, lying in wait for that split second that we let our guards down."

"Stop talking like that. You're really starting to make me even more scared. Let's just go already."

"Okay, on the count of three, we run for it. One, two, three!"

In a mad dash, the two of them ran down the hall towards the doors that would lead them into the assembly room. If this were any other normal day, people would have thought they were racing and a SOLDIER might have punished them for acting childish in an army facility. However, those thoughts never crossed their minds once, both of them focused on the same thing: To warn everybody about the threat that lurked within the building.

After thirty seconds of running, they made it to their destination, stopping for a moment to catch their breaths. The doors to the room were shut and nothing seemed to be out of place. For the most part, everything seemed to be quite normal. However, that thought was thrown out the window when they heard a terrified scream coming from behind the closed doors.

"What do guys think you're doing?!" a person yelled in a quivering voice. "Back off, you hear me? I said back off! Don't try to take a chunk out of me like you did with the others! Didn't you hear me? I said get away!"

"Sounds like that thing's somehow made it into the assembly room already," Adeus growled as he quickly slid the ID card into the keypad. "We got to hurry and help the guys in there!"

"What did he mean when he said that his attackers took a chunk out of the others?" Cloud wondered as the doors opened up.

"We don't have time to think about that right now, Cloud! Let's just hurry up and get in there!"

With their guns at the ready, the both of them practically ran into the room, ready to take on whatever it was that was attacking everybody inside, despite the fact that they themselves did not have a lot of training in regards to battle. However, they felt confident enough about themselves in their battle skills, thanks to Zack giving them some advanced training courses and constantly drilling it into their heads. Although, no amount of training could have prepared them for what they saw inside.

Inside the assembly room, it was total and utter chaos. Many bodies littered the floor with a couple laying on the tables, most of them cadets judging by the uniforms. Blood was practically sprayed all over the room. It was on the floor, the tables, the walls, everywhere. Some of the crimson liquid even made contact with the ceiling. Some of the bodies were practically sliced up beyond all recognition; others seemed to have been partially eaten alive and most likely died from the process. Overall, the entire scene was just so horrendous; the two cadets nearly backed out of the room before remembering about the scream they heard.

"Hey, help me over here!" a person from their left yelled out to them. "These guys have gone insane!"

Turning their heads towards the voice, they saw a cadet by the wall waving his arms like mad. Surrounding him were a bunch of other cadets, although they did not seem normal. All of them, except for the one by the wall, were walking in a very sluggish way and with an unusual limp, flecks of blood on their uniforms noticeable through the flickering lights. Their backs were towards the two, but they could see that they were somewhat in a slump with their hands hanging on their sides in a useless fashion. In all honesty, they looked like they were all in some kind of sleepwalking trance in which no amount of yelling would have waken them up.

"Hold on, we're coming to help you!" Cloud shouted as he was about to go and tackle the limping cadets.

However, before he even set one foot towards the crowd, he and Adeus saw another door on the other side of the room open. Momentarily shocked by this, they moved their attention at the door, not noticing that the limping cadets now had their eyes, devoid of their natural shine of life and practically reflecting nothing but death, on them and were now moving towards them. Their faces were filled with blank expressions and their mouths agape, thin lines of blood trailing down the sides of their mouths and pieces of what seemed to be bits of flesh caught in between the crevices of their bloodstained teeth.

-Meanwhile-

For the next minute or so, Zack practically ran down the hallway, his mind still reeling with the things that the cadet from earlier told him. Trying to not let those details get to him, he had his mind set on getting to the assembly room and seeing just what in Gaia's name was going on with his own eyes. This whole night was starting to go downhill ever since he left the assembly.

"Just what in the world is happening in here?" he asked out loud in an attempt to keep his mind and his nerves calm. "First, I find a Shinra executive worker near my room, lying stone cold dead on the floor with multiple slashes on him. Next, I hear from three cadets, who were running like something was after them, that a lot of crazy things were going on inside the assembly room, including a monster that they say busted through one of the doors and started a slashing killing spree. Now here I am going to that same room trying to figure out for myself what's really going on. Boy, I'm really going to be having a long night tonight."

Ever since he saw the three cadets earlier, he saw nobody pass by him or lying dead on the floor. The hallways were as clean as they usually were without any signs of a fight of sorts. There was also no indication of a monster running loose. He did not know whether to take this a good sign or a bad one. Either way, he knew that as long as a monster was inside this building, everybody was in trouble and that he and the others needed to take care of this problem before it took care of them.

_I really hope everyone's alright_, he thought as he began to slow his pace down a bit. _Okay, maybe not everyone. I don't really care if Professor Hojo was killed in this whole mess. He gives me the creeps every time I go to him for my daily Mako injections, especially this afternoon where he seemed to be acting a bit clingier to me. That and he's just plain creepy. I really don't like that guy. Anyway, I don't have time to be thinking about that. I just need to worry about the wellbeing of everybody else in there._

By the time he finished his thoughts, he had made it to one of the entrances of the assembly room. It looked to have been somewhat dented outwards towards him, but it still looked like it would still open with no problem. However, it was damaged enough for the panel next to it to be reading, "Malfuntion".

"Great," Zack sighed out in mild frustration. "The stupid door on this side's broken. I'm going to have to find another way inside. Now's _really_ not the time for this to be happening to me."

Silently cursing his luck, he began to circle around the room, looking for the next available door that was working. By the time he turned the corner, though, he heard a terrified voice shouting from inside the room.

"What do guys think you're doing?!" he heard the person shout loudly. "Back off, you hear me? I said back off! Don't try to take a chunk out of me like you did with the others! Didn't you hear me? I said get away!"

"Oh no, sounds like things are really getting out of hand in there," the 1st Class SOLDIER stated worriedly as he immediately began to pick up the pace. "I got to hurry up and get in there. When the heck am I going to the next door?"

A couple of moments later, he finally made it to another door that would allow him entrance to his destination. This one did not have a dent in it like the previous one did, although it seemed to also have some sort of problem, or so the monitor on the keypad seemed to indicate.

"Oh, come on!" Zack exclaimed as he read the words, "Please input manual override code" on the small screen. "I really don't have time for this, you stupid piece of junk door!"

Growling in frustration, he started to punch in a numeric code on the keypad. However, he was in too much of a rush that he messed up the code the first time. After taking a couple small breaths and relaxing a bit, he punched in the code again, this time managing to do so successfully.

"Hey, help me over here!" he heard the person shout to someone inside. "These guys have gone insane!"

"There's someone else in there?" Zack wondered as he waited for the door, which seemed to have some sort of damage, open slower than it should have. "I hope that they're able to help him for now. Oh, why does this door have to open so god damn slow right now? Can't it hurry up?"

"Hold on, we're coming to help you!" he heard a familiar voice respond from inside the assembly room.

"Wh-what's going on?" he exclaimed as the doors momentarily jammed up a bit before resuming their action of opening. "Was that Cloud's voice I just heard? What in Gaia's name is he doing in there?! I thought he left the room a couple of hours ago. Oh, that doesn't matter right now. Hurry up and open, you freaking door!"

After a few moments more of impatient waiting, the doors finally opened up enough for Zack to enter and to get a good view of just what exactly was going on inside. He almost immediately wished that he had not seen anything.

"Whoa…" he gasped as he tried to comprehend the sight that was lying before him. Everything was in total chaos. Lots of bodies were lying on the floor with gaping slashes; some even looked like they had been bitten to death. The crimson blood shimmered everywhere from the lights that were constantly flickering in and out of focus. It was basically almost like a battlefield multiplied by a thousand in intensity.

"…I think I had just left the land of the living and entered Hell," he whispered as he tried to ignore this gruesome scene and scan the room. "This is just so… It's too horrific and…" He could not finish his sentence as the shock within him built up and completely shut him up.

Almost immediately, he saw a few cadets at the far side of the room standing. One of them was waving his arms around like mad while the others were surrounding him. The other two were those that he knew all too well. They were his two cadets that he had been mentoring; Cloud and Adeus! They had a look of shock on their faces when he saw them turn their heads towards his direction. He also noticed the other cadets surrounding the one by the wall shift their attention towards the other two, and it was then that he got a good view of their eyes.

_Whoa!_ he mentally recoiled as he stared into the eyes. _Th-that can't be right! Those eyes don't even seem to reflect any life in them. The only time I've seen them like that was when…I saw dead comrades out in the field. But that's… It can't be… Are they…dead?_

However, Zack did not have any time to ponder on that. Instead, his shocked mind barely even registered that the dead-looking cadets were now limping towards Adeus and Cloud with an odd look of hunger reflecting off their dead eyes.

"Watch it, you two!" the cadet by the wall warned the two of them, effectively bringing some of the limpers' attention back to him. "These guys have turned insane! They'll bite you to death! I've seen them do it!"

_They weren't kidding when they said that_, Zack thought as he readied his sword for battle and remembered the three cadets' rushed words. _I better go in and help them now._

Without giving it another thought, he rushed into the assembly room, sword tightly gripped in his hand and his Materia set firmly on his armlet, waiting to be used.

"No need to worry, guys!" he shouted loudly, thus gaining the attention of everyone and everything inside the room. "Zack's here to save you all!"


	5. A Battle Against The Dead

**Chapter 4: A Battle Against The Dead**

"Z-Zack?!" Cloud and Adeus yelled out simultaneously, suddenly forgetting where they were and staring in shock at their mentor. It was only when they heard a shout a moment later did they snap out of this trance.

"Watch out, guys!" the cadet by the wall shouted. "They're going to bite you!"

At this remark, the two turned around and were suddenly literally face to face with the faces of the dead-looking cadets. One of them even went so far as to lean in towards Adeus and open his mouth in a motion that indicated that he was about to chomp down on him.

"Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed as he pushed the offending mouth away and quickly delivered a roundhouse kick to the head, causing the would-be biter to be sent flying towards the ground.

"Whoa!" Cloud shouted in surprise as he jumped back after feeling one of the hands barely graze his arm, feeling its cold, clammy touch. He then quickly swept the guy off his feet and had him land with a thud on his back.

"Cloud, watch out!" Adeus shouted as he saw another crazy cadet about to collapse onto the blond who was about to come back up from his sweep.

At this moment, a quick flash passed by the black haired teen and he felt a small breeze. The next thing he heard was a dull slicing sound and a body falling onto the floor.

"Learn to get up quicker after that, Cloud," Zack's voice replied as he loomed over the blond. "Come on; help me take care of the rest."

"Z-Zack," he stuttered as he quickly got up onto his feet. "Y-you're alright!"

"Well, I won't be if you don't start helping me here!" the spiky haired raven SOLDIER snapped as he jumped back to avoid being grabbed. "Don't hesitate, you two. These guys are no longer themselves. Take them down!"

"A-are you sure about that, sir?" Adeus asked skeptically as he, too, moved back in order to place more distance between him and the crazed cadets.

"Yes, I'm sure," he answered as he saw Cloud throw a quick punch at the one that was close to the cadet by the wall. "Get out of here, grunt! This building isn't safe anymore. We'll take care of everything here!"

"Y-yes sir!" the cadet replied as he sidled along the wall until he reached an open doorway and ran right out.

"Come on, just a couple more and we'll be done," Zack said with a cocky half-grin as he sliced down another crazed cadet. "How are you guys holding up?"

"Just fine, sir!" Adeus answered as he disabled another one and snapped its neck.

"I thought I told you to call me Zack!"

"Forget about it now!" Cloud answered with a tinge of annoyance in his voice as he delivered a jumping back kick aimed directly at his opponent's head.

After another minute of fighting and senseless talking, he three of them managed to take care of the rouge cadets.

"Jeez, I never thought that I would be fighting against my own people like this," Zack sighed as he placed his sword back onto his back. "Especially in the condition that they were in."

"Zack, what the hell is going on around here?" Cloud asked as he quickly scanned the entire area again. "Why are some cadets going insane and trying to bite others?"

"More importantly, why is there a monster roaming around the building?" Adeus addressed. "We just saw a body not too long ago with a throat slit so viciously, it seemed more than probable that a monster did the deed."

"You guys saw a dead body, too?" the SOLDIER asked in shock. "There must be more than one monster roaming around in here then."

"What do you mean 'more than one?'" the blond inquired. "Can you please tell us what's going on here?"

"I don't know, Cloud!" he stated in a frustrated tone. "All I know is that this place is no longer safe. We need to contact the higher-ups and tell them that all hell is breaking loose here."

"Why were the cadets like that?" Adeus thought out loud as he stared at the ones they just fought. "They seemed so eager to try and bite us."

"That's just what the three cadets that ran by me said," the spiky black haired teen replied as he remembered the very brief conversation. "They said that some of the cadets went insane. Although that's not really the disturbing thing I've seen or heard all night. What really disturbed me is the look in the eyes of the ones we just fought?"

"Why their eyes, Zack?"

"You really didn't notice, Cloud? Oh yeah, I forgot that you've never been on a battlefield before. Their eyes…, they lacked life in them. It looked as though they were already dead to begin with."

"What?!" Cloud and Adeus exclaimed, their eyes wide with shock. "How the hell is that even possible?!"

"I don't know, you two," Zack answered with a sigh. "All I know is that we have to try and get to Director Lazard's office. If we can get there, then he can initiate a state of emergency inside this building."

"And what exactly is that supposed to do for us?" Cloud asked.

"It'll allow for the evacuation of all non-army personnel and for all army men to take up arms and eradicate the problem, whatever it may be," a new voice explained, startling all three of them. Turning around, they saw that it was another 1st Class SOLDIER, as it was indicated by the uniform he was wearing. It was also a person that Zack knew well.

"Angeal!" he exclaimed in relief as he looked at the older man who had wide sword, which he called the Buster Sword, resting on his back and another thinner one in his hands. "You're alright!"

"Of course I am," Angeal replied calmly as he held his second sword firmly in his hand. "I've just finished leading all of the cadets out of this building. I never thought that a monster would have popped out of nowhere near the end of the assembly."

"There really was a monster in here?" Zack asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, yes," the older SOLDIER replied with a sigh. "A couple of SOLDIERs managed to escort Professor Hojo out safely while I tried to herd the frightened cadets out of the room. The other members of SOLDIER tried to take care of the monster. By the looks of things here, I'd say that they lost."

"What are you talking about, Angeal?"

"Look around you. Don't you see something missing if they really did win the battle?"

Doing as Angeal had commanded, the three started to scope out the room again, searching for something that seemed out of place. After a few moments, Cloud figured out what was wrong with this bloody scene.

"Isn't the monster's body missing?" he inquired as he, for the first time, noticed the lack of a monster body.

"Exactly, cadet," Angeal acknowledged with a nod. "That means the monster is still loose somewhere. It could be anywhere right now."

"And that means that it could strike us at any given time," Adeus concluded with a hint of fright in his voice.

"That and this is more or less likely not your average, everyday monster," Zack added as he scanned the corpses more carefully. "If the 1st Class SOLDIERs had problems handling it, then that means this thing is tough. You and I are probably the only 1st Class SOLDIERs left on this floor that even has a slight clue as to what is going on here."

"That's right," Angeal said as his face turned even more serious. "That just means that we probably can't handle it right now. All we can do is to try and save as many people as we can. I'll go ahead and search this floor for any other cadets that may still be here hiding and guide them outside. You three go on ahead and get to Director Lazard's office. Tell him about the situation and he'll know what to do from here."

"Wait a minute, sir," Adeus interrupted the SOLDIER. "Are you saying that you're allowing me and Cloud to go with Zack to the director's office?"

"Yes, I am. Out of all the cadets this year, you two are the only ones with enough skill to handle something like this, regardless that you've only been here for a little over three months. I've seen how Zack's been training you two and how much progress the both of you have made from it. Now hurry up and go before the situation gets even more out of hand."

"Uh, guys," they heard Cloud's nervous voice call them. "I think we have some…dead company?" he said the last words in a whimpering high pitched tone.

Angeal, who was in a position to be looking at Cloud the entire time, noticed that he was pointing a quivering finger towards his left side. Turning his head to look, he was shocked to see a whole bunch of cadets walking towards them. However, that was not the most shocking thing. What was really shocking was that these cadets had bite marks all over them.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" he exclaimed as he readied he sword for a fight. "I didn't even hear them come in."

"Th-they were already inside!" Cloud replied in a quivering voice as he fumbled around with the gun in his hand. "They…they just all of a sudden started to get up from the floor and started waling towards us!"

"You've got to be kidding me, Cloud!" Adeus shouted as he prepared his gun. "They were already dead when we saw them in here. Unless this is some kind of really freaky magic going on here, the dead always stay dead!"

"But that's exactly what I saw!" the blond shouted back as he finally had a steady hand on his gun and was aiming it at the dead moving corpses. "They just…all of a sudden got up as if they were only asleep!"

"Look, can we talk about this later?" Zack asked rhetorically as he took his sword off from his back again and swung it threateningly in front of him. "If these things also like to bite us like their friends from earlier, then I don't want to end up becoming their meal."

"They bite?" Angeal repeated in a questioning tone. "Well, that's good to know. I should keep my distance, then, when I fight them. Be careful everyone."

And with that, he lunged towards one of the dead cadets and sliced it out of commission. Zack did the same thing, although he opted to try and take out more than one at the same time. Cloud and Adeus used their guns from where they were standing and picked off those that were approaching the two SOLIDERs at a safe distance.

"This is ridiculous!" Zack shouted a few seconds into the battle. "None of this makes any sense at all! If we stay here any longer, I don't think we'll be able to get to the director's office."

"Agreed," Angeal said as he barely managed t dodge a dead cadet that had managed to sneak up on him. "Let's try to make quick work with them using the Materia."

"Good idea," the younger SOLDIER replied as he took one of his green Materia out of its placeholder in his armlet. "Let's see how they like this. Fire!"

Almost immediately, a fireball shot out from Zack's hand, or rather the Materia that was in his hand, and flew right at the dead cadet. It made direct contact and it fell onto the floor, its clothes ablaze and flesh burning.

"Blizzara!" Angeal shouted as a sudden chill entered the room. At the same time, a cool mist started to surround the entire offending group. A big chunk of ice then began to form above them and soon fell; causing it to shatter once it made contact with its target. Those that were not crushed by the initial drop from the ice were pierced with the icy sharp debris.

"Wow, you two are good," Cloud said in awe as the last dead cadet was taken care of by his bullet. "I didn't think that you both had Materia on you."

"We're 1st Class SOLDIERs, Cloud," Zack answered as he pulled his sword out from a body. "We're allowed to carry stuff like that around us at all times."

"Must be nice to have exceptions as a 1st Class SOLDIER," Adeus replied in a somewhat daydreaming voice as he checked his bullet chamber.

"Now is not the time to be talking about this," Angeal chastised them as he made to one of the open doors. "We have to seal this room and get out of here before more of these dead guys decide to wake up again. Zack, you take your cadets through that door over there and seal it. I'll take this one and try to evacuate the others on this floor."

"Got it," Zack nodded in understanding as he motioned for Cloud and Adeus to follow him. "You be careful."

"Same to you two," the older SOLDIER replied before turning around and throwing something at Zack. "Oh yeah, you might want to have your cell on you so we can communicate with each other."

"My cell phone?" the young SOLDER asked as he caught the small device in mid-air. "Where did you get it?"

"In your room when I went there earlier to tell you about all this. Now hurry up and get to Lazard's office. The sooner you get there, the faster this building can be evacuated. Don't let these zombies get the best of you."

Before Zack could say anything else, Angeal left the assembly room through the nearest open door and shut it closed.

"How could you have forgotten your cell phone at a time like this, Zack?" Cloud asked his mentor with a sigh. "Adeus and I always keep it on us."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that it decided to die a few hours ago," he retorted as the group exited through the same door he came in from earlier. "It was in my room when all this started."

"Just hurry up and seal the damn door, please," Adeus replied as he was the last person to exit the room. "Some of the things, zombies I think Angeal called them, are starting to get up."

"God, those things just refuse to stay dead," Zack gave a noise of disapproval as he quickly pressed a number code on the pad, causing the door to close. "Persistent guys, aren't they?"

"How can those guys have turned into zombies, though?" Cloud asked as he noticed he was running low on bullets. "I thought zombies were nothing but a bunch of stupid fantasy creatures mentioned in stories to scare the crap out of the little kids. I didn't think that they were actually real!"

"Apparently, they are," Adeus sighed as he, too, noticed that he was nearly out of bullets. "Damn, I only have a couple of bullets left."

"Sounds like I need to make a side trip to the armory before I go to the director's office," the SOLDIER speculated as he reinserted his Fire Materia into his armlet. "That and I need to get you two some Materia so you don't have to always rely on your guns."

"I still don't understand how you were able to teach the two of us how to use a gun when you yourself don't even use one to begin with," Cloud randomly stated in an attempt to get his mind out of all this chaos.

"Hey, don't forget that I was a grunt myself at one point of my life. Yeah, I might prefer to use swords over guns, but it doesn't mean that I'm totally clueless as to how to use them."

"Are you sure about that?" Adeus asked in a slight humorous voice as Zack started to lead them to the armory. "If I remember right, you kept on missing the target every time you tried to fire the gun as a demonstration for us. Cloud and I ended up having to teach ourselves how to properly aim and shoot with them."

"Alright, so I wasn't that good with a gun," Zack sighed at the memory while Cloud was trying to stifle a chuckle. "At least you two managed to teach yourselves correctly. Anyway, let's hurry up and get to the armory. The sooner we get there, the quicker you two can restock your bullet supplies. We can't afford to be wasting anymore time here."

Without saying another word, he led the two cadets to the armory, cautiously walking down the hallways and making sure that none of the zombie-converted cadets were walking around trying to look for their meal. He also kept his ears open for any signs of suspicious movement from the monster that was surely lucking somewhere inside the building, waiting for the right moment to strike.


	6. Preparing For Survival

**Chapter 5: Preparing For Survival**

"Here we are, you guys," Zack happily said as he opened a door he and his two cadets had approached a few seconds ago. "Prepare to feast your eyes on some of the greatest things that you'll probably only find in here, the SOLDIER 1st Class Armory room. This is where almost all of the best weapons that the Shinra Company has to offer us are kept, specially reserved for only us 1st Class SOLDIERs to use. Although, I think that we can make an exception to that this time around, seeing as how everything in here is practically out of hand.

"Anyway, go ahead and help yourselves to whatever's in here," he continued as he stepped aside and allowed for Cloud and Adeus to enter the room first. "It looks like you're both going to need only the top-notch stuff that's in here tonight. Make sure you take a lot of ammo with you because I don't want to end up making another trip down here and waste time."

With that said, the two cadets nodded in understanding and walked into the room first, their mentor bringing up the rear just so he could take care of any zombie cadets that had decided to follow them. After making sure that the area was clear, he quickly entered the room and shut the door behind him. It was then that the two cadets were able to get a clear look inside the dimly lit room.

"Wow, there's really a lot of stuff here," Cloud said in a surprised whisper as he looked around the room.

The armory was filled to the brim with many swords and guns. Shelves lined the walls and were neatly positioned in the center of the room, creating aisles of even more weapons. On the left side of the room were the swords of all shapes and sizes; the other side housed the many guns the room had to offer. From thin, light swords to wide, heavy blades, they had it all. From simple handguns to heavy duty assault shotguns, they had them all, too.

"Wow," Adeus said in complete awe as he began to look over all the weaponry in the room. "I've never seen so many types of weapons all sitting in the same room. How the heck are we suppose to choose from all this?"

"Easy, you just do," Zack answered as he began to quickly walk down the aisles. "Everything in here has been made from the best material one could ask for, so there's no need to worry about them breaking as easily as the ones cadets and 3rd Class SOLDIERs are issued. Anyway, you two better hurry up and choose your weapons. Since we're tight on time, we're going to be out of here in a few minutes. Spare ammo for the guns is located in the back of the room. Hurry up now."

Sensing the haste in their mentor's voice, the two cadets quickly walked up to the shelves of guns and started to skim through them. Both of them soon settled on a customized semi-automatic handgun that was able to use both regular handgun bullets and magnum bullets interchangeably. They were black in color and already came equipped with a clip of bullets on them. They then took a brown leather gun holster from the shelf next to the guns and placed it around their waist, placing both their original and new gun into their respective places on the sides.

"Once you two are done sifting through the guns, start looking for a sword that you can easily wield," Zack reminded them from the back of the room. "Guns are good and all, but you're going to need a sword once you run out of bullets. They don't last forever, you know?"

"He's right," Adeus agreed as he walked over to the swords. "We can't just rely solely on our guns. Good thing Zack taught us how to use a sword last month despite our complaints, right Cloud?"

"I guess so," Cloud sighed as he followed the long haired raven teen. "I just hope I don't end up dropping it so many times during our fights like I did during our training session with them."

"Just remember what Zack said and keep a firm grip on the handle," the teen reminded him as he started to quickly skim through the many selections. "Do that and you'll be fine."

"Make sure you both pick a sword that has both a comfortable weight for you and good balance," the SOLDIER told them, his voice sounding from behind them. "You don't want to have a sword so heavy you can't even swing it properly or so light that it becomes too flimsy. If it's unbalanced, then that means the either the blade or the handle is too light or heavy. That'll mess up your form."

"Got it!" they both acknowledged as they started to pick up some of the blades and test them.

After spending a quick thirty seconds sifting through the choices, they both finally found a sword that matched their personal standards. Cloud found a nice, well-balanced sword with a thin blade. Not including the handle, it was about a meter and eight inches long, perfect for striking foes from a certain amount of distance; and it was also the perfect weight for him to handle with extreme ease. Overall, it was a great weapon for parrying and performing swift attacks in a fluid motion, something that he was already able to do well thanks to his somewhat small size and, through that, quick agility.

The sword Adeus chose was different from Cloud's. It was shorter, for one thing, with the blade being exactly three meters long. The blade itself was pretty wide at around three or four inches, making it feel a bit unbalanced blade-wise to some people, and was somewhat heavy. However, with muscles like the ones he had on his body, it suited his needs quite well without any problems. It was a perfect sword for dealing heavy blows at the enemy and guarding against certain frontal attacks, although agility was slightly diminished due to its heavy qualities, causing him to hold it with two hands instead of only one like Cloud's allowed him to do.

"You guys got everything you need here?" Zack asked them as he approached them from the side.

"I think so," Cloud replied as he took a look at how Adeus was doing. "We found the swords that we're going to be using."

"Are you sure?" the SOLDIER asked. "Let's have a quick test run then to see if they really suit you."

Without giving any warning, Zack drew his sword from his back and immediately swung it at Cloud for an overhead strike. Acting on instinct, which barely kicked in due to such a sudden attack, he brought his sword up to his side and parried the blow. With the sword effectively parried, the blond then brought his thin sword to his side and swung it at his mentor, who blocked it with ease and made a counter-attack. However, thanks to his agility, he merely dodged it and attempted another horizontal slash. This action was pointless, though, for Zack swung his sword at the offending weapon, striking it so hard that the blond dropped it and was left with a wide sword pointed at him.

"It looks like the sword suits you just fine, Cloud," the SOLDIER replied as he lowered his blade away from the blonde's chest. "Light enough for you to use and to utilize your natural speed. It also has a nice range to it for slight mid-range combat. The thin blade also makes your slashes more effective, especially when you properly utilize. A very nice choice you made."

"Th-thanks, I guess," Cloud said as he bent down to retrieve his fallen sword, rubbing his right arm a bit from the previous impact that caused it to tremble somewhat and was trying to shake it off. "You're pretty darn strong, though."

"What did you expect?" Zack asked as he began to divert his attention towards Adeus. "I didn't make it into SOLDIER, 1st Class by being a total weakling. I spent countless hours being trained by Angeal to be where I'm at today. Anyway, it's your turn now, Adeus. Let's see if you made a good choice, too."

With his sword at the ready, Adeus immediately dodged a diagonal slash aimed at him and swung his somewhat heavy sword at his mentor with good speed. Of course, Zack was better and ducked under the swing. He then performed a quick upward slash that caught the cadet off-guard and caused him to stagger back a bit. From that stagger, he regained his footing and jumped forward with his sword set for a jab. Zack simply positioned the blunt side of the sword in front of him and allowed for it to take the blow in his place. He was forced backwards due to the sudden halt in momentum, and the SOLDIER took advantage of that. He initiated the same move the cadet had used against him, but Adeus simply copied the same defensive maneuver and blocked the attack. However, his mentor was stronger in the attack, he actually skidded a few inches backwards while deflecting the attack.

"Heh, you're not too bad yourself, Adeus," the spiky black haired teen commented him with a smile as he placed his sword back onto his back. "Your natural strength plus the sword's natural weight make for good powerful strikes. Very well suited for most close-range combat situations. You even taught yourself how to use the blunt side of the blade to your advantage for deflecting jabs. Don't forget that you can deflect bullets, too, if you're fast enough. Not a bad choice for you at all."

"Thank you," Adeus said with a sigh as he momentarily put his sword down and started to shake his arms and legs a bit, the force from being pushed back forcing those muscles to quiver a bit. "How can you move as fast as you can, though, when you have a sword that looks to be about as heavy as mine?"

"It takes a bit of practice," Zack simply replied as he picked up a bag next to him that both of the cadets did not notice earlier. "It also helps to have some Mako injected into your body. It's something that helps to stimulate your body so it can perform tasks like seeing and hearing better. It's not like you need it now, though. You already move pretty quickly without it. Just work on building up your speed and you'll be able to attack as fast as me with a blade of that weight."

"As for you, Cloud," he continued as he switched his gaze to the blond, "you've got pretty good speed; I think it could practically give my agility a run for its money. However, you need to work on getting more power into your attacks. Your strikes are already pretty strong when you take advantage of your exceptionally good agility, but it could be better if you work on putting more force behind it. Make sure you remember what I just said and practice on it, alright you two?"

"Got it," both Cloud and Adeus acknowledged.

"Good. Go ahead and put them on your backs now since you're not going to be using them. Don't worry, they'll stay on like mine does," he assured them when he saw the looks they gave him. "These weapons have some kind of material fused into them that allows for them to stay on people's clothing. Don't ask me what it is because I don't know. All I know is that it makes lugging them around easier. You can't do that with weapons that are not 1st Class issued."

"That's cool," Cloud stated as he and Adeus placed the swords on their backs, amazed that they actually stayed on. "Anyway, what's that inside the bag you're carrying?"

"Some spare ammo for you guns. I kind of figured that you two would forget about them since we're in a rush. Don't worry, I made sure to check which guns you took off the rack before taking the boxes of spare bullets. All that's in here are regular and magnum bullets."

"Oh," the blond simply stated, knowing that they, or at least himself, forgot about the spare ammunition.

"Oh yeah, I also found a few Materia stones lying around on the floor in the back of the room," Zack added as he pulled out four round green stones from his pants pocket. "Apparently, some 1st Class SOLDIERs were in a rush to get their ammo that they didn't notice that they dropped them. Oh well, it's not like they're going to be worrying about that now. Go ahead and take them. It should make protecting yourselves easier if you have access to magic on you. Two of them are recovery type and the other two are differing elemental types. Because I found these stones here, I also decided to give you two armlets since I found these stones. It'll allow a place for them to rest and be more accessible during a fight."

After throwing each of the cadets two Materia each, both receiving one recovery-based, Zack rummaged through the small bag and pulled out two silver metal armlets similar in shape and structure as the one he was wearing. He then threw one to both cadets, failing to realize that they still had the Materia in their hands and seeing them fumble with both objects. Eventually, they managed to get a grip on everything and throw him an annoyed look.

"Hey, give us one thing at a time Zack!" Adeus exclaimed as he placed the stones in the slots before putting on the armlet itself. "We can't handle these things as fast as you probably can."

"Go ahead and equip the armlets on yourselves," the young SOLDIER continued on as if he did not hear the cadet's complaints. "Then, place the Materia into the slots that are available on it. It'll make for easier access."

"But how would we know which Materia is which?" Cloud asked as he started to put on the silver-colored armlet before placing his Materia in the slots. "They both look the same to me."

"I taught you guys how to use them last week, remember? You'll know which one is which when you're going to try and use them."

"It's like you know what magic it's going to cast when you have one in your hand," Adeus said as he tried to remember the lesson. "The name of it just suddenly pops into your head once you have the Materia in your hand."

"That's pretty much it. I don't know much about the entire process myself, but they say that these stones hold the knowledge of some ancient race that once lived on this planet a long time ago. They say that the Materia allows us to borrow their knowledge for use of the magic. Also, make sure you're only holding one in your hand when casting magic, though. Otherwise, you can't get the name of the magic that you really want to use, even though one of them is in your hand. In other words, you won't be able to cast any magic like that.

"Anyway, that's enough talking," the SOLDIER said as he quickly placed his arm through the one strap the was on the bag, positioning it so that it would not interfere with his ability to remove and place the sword on his back. "We have to get to the director's office now and tell him about all this before more of those zombie cadets appear and start to fill the hallways. We've wasted enough time in here sifting through these weapons as it is. I trust that you both, at least, remember how to use the magic from our lesson last week, right?"

"I'm sure we do, Zack," Cloud answered as he placed his two Materia into the slots on his armlet. "We just take hold of the stone and pretend that whatever magic it can cast is being cast on the target, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Now come on, let's get out of here before things get really out of hand here."

Just as he was about to approach the door, though, a loud thud was heard outside of the room in the hallways. Then, a loud banging noise was heard right on the other side of the door.

"I think you spoke too soon, Zack," Adeus replied as he felt his breath hitch in fright. "Sounds like things are already out of hand."

"Damn, I bet it's that monster that attacked everybody in the assembly earlier," Zack exclaimed as he readied his sword for battle, his eyes burning with what seemed to be vengeance. "It sounds like he's finally found us and wants to have another fight. Well, I'm going to give him a fight, a fight he won't soon forget."

"Wait, you're not seriously thinking about fighting whatever's behind that door in here, are you?" Cloud asked hastily as the banging noise sounded again, this time with the door itself moving along with the sound. "I don't think that there's enough room for us to fight the monster in here."

"He's right," the long black haired teen agreed with the blond. "We can't fight in here with all these shelves in the way."

"Alright," Zack sighed as the fire disappeared as quickly as it had came. "I'll go with plan B then. It's going to be an evasive maneuver. The two of you go over to that corner near the door and hide there for now. I'm going to kill the lights once you're there. Hopefully, the monster won't be able to see us when it's dark. That's when we'll sneak out of the room."

"Got it, Zack," the spiky haired blond said as he and Adeus quickly ran to the designated corner, the banging becoming more intense and the dent becoming even larger. "Whatever you're planning to do, you might want to hurry it up a bit, though. This thing doesn't seem to want to give up anytime soon!"

With a quick nod of acknowledgement, Zack turned around and ran towards a gray fuse box that was set on the wall right next to the shelves of guns. He took his sword off of his back and sliced it open. Once the cover split into two pieces and fell to the floor, he started to quickly sift through the many buttons that were on the box. He soon found the one labeled "Lights" and destroyed the fuse powering it with a very accurate jab from his sword, thus effectively dousing the lights and turning the entire room pitch black.

"As you two said earlier, we're not fighting in here; just run when you get the chance!" the SOLDIER reminded them as he stood where he was at.

Just as the cadets were about to respond, another deafening bang reverberated throughout the room. They knew the poor door could not handle much more of the abuse, so they all prepared themselves for what might appear behind that door, waiting behind the thick curtain of darkness for their chance to escape this room.


	7. Escaping the Seemingly Inevitable

**Chapter 6: Escaping the Seemingly Inevitable**

Another loud bang echoed within the room. It was not much longer until that greatly abused door, which served as the only obstruction between them and whatever was on the other side, would give away. Another terrifyingly loud bang sounded and parts of the door now so dented that small shafts of light managed to seep in through the sides of the doorway.

_Just one more hit and it's gone,_ Zack thought as his breaths started to come short and quick. _Just one more hit and we're out of here, hopefully before whatever it is that's back there sees us._

And it was exactly as he thought. The final strike upon the door was the one that practically sent it flying off its place all the way to the other side of the room with a deafening thud as it struck the wall. In its place was some sort of ligament that was very hard to describe. He could not even tell if it was an arm or a leg. All he knew was that it had reddish skin mixed in with some occasional green spots on it. Obviously, it did not even look like a part of the zombies that he had seen earlier. No, it looked ten times worse; and that was only the arm itself. He could only imagine how much uglier and grotesque the creature was.

"What the hell is that?!" Cloud exclaimed in a whimpering voice nearly too soft for even himself to hear.

"I…don't know," Adeus replied in a terribly strained calm whisper as the sickly colored ligament retracted back into the hallway and out of sight. "Let's just hope that whatever it is…doesn't see us in here."

Almost immediately after the retraction, something suddenly barged its way into the room, startling all three of them and almost causing Cloud to scream; Adeus quickly placed his hand over his mouth to prevent it from happening, though. With wide, scared eyes, the three all looked at what had quickly dashed into the room. Although the room was still dark, the light from the hallway provided some vision and they were able to see the thing, even if it was only its back. However, seeing its back was more than enough for all of them.

The creature's back, which is what they assumed judging by its horrifically disfigured figure, was definitely not that of a zombie. Like its ligament, the skin was red with the same sickly green spots littering it. It was also so flaky and threatened to peel right off at any given time. But that was not the real shocker. The real surprise was when they saw what seemed to be horns growing along the contour of its spine, its whiteness befouled with occasional splotches of blood made visible by the light emanating from the hallway.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Adeus exclaimed in a barely audible tone as he and the others in the room saw the grotesque figure proceed down the center aisle slowly, almost as if it were trying to search out for its prey.

"Guys!" Zack shouted as silently as he could while waving his arms a bit to get Cloud and Adeus's attention. "Go now!"

Looking at their commander, they saw him pointing at the doorway and motioning for them to make their move towards it. Without making so much as a peep, they silently sidled along the walls as quickly as they could until they were hiding behind the safety of the walls. It was not even a moment later and Zack appeared right next to them, the three managing to successfully ditch the room unnoticed by the monster inside.

"We got to go down the hall," the SOLDIER instructed in a shaky voice above a whisper. "There's a set of stairs through the last door. We can't risk waiting for an elevator. We got to get out of here now!"

Without wasting any time, the young SOLDIER walked quickly and silently while the two cadets followed closely behind him. However, a few seconds into their planned escape, something unexpected happened; something that none of them had in the least thought would have happened. It could not have happened at such a worse time. Zack's cell phone was ringing. It was ringing with a catchy ring tone that echoed throughout the empty hallways.

"No, not now!" Zack gasped as he immediately grabbed a hold of the lump that was sticking out of his pants pocket in a vain effort to muffle the noise coming from the damn contraption while the cadets just stood there, shocked at such the sudden noise and what was going to happen next. "Any time but now!"

Unfortunately, the damage was already done, for not a second after the ring tone had died down; a loud roar reverberated throughout the hallway. Turning their heads instinctively towards the noise that was behind them, they saw a red flash dash out of the room that they were just in. The creature had figured out where they were and had its gaze set on them. It was at this time that the three of them were finally able to get a full view of what laid in front of them.

The monster was truly a terrifying sight, if the roar itself from earlier did not conclude it for them already. It was standing on its legs, both of them in the shape of a four-legged beast's hind legs. Its arms were anything but that. Instead of having two limbs sticking out of its severely deformed and mutilated torso, one was as normal of an arm as it could be while the other was an upper arm combined with what seemed to be a razor sharp blade; the sickle-like blade was caked with old blood from its poor victims. All this was bestowed upon their eyes as the monster's small threatening full black eyes stared intently at them, seemingly waiting for them to make just one wrong move before it lunged at them.

"Oh, no!" Zack whispered as he sucked in a sharp breath. "Don't make any…sudden movements, you two."

"I don't think I even can!" Cloud whimpered as he stood glued to the spot he was in. "I'm too petrified to even turn my head away!"

"Why the hell did you leave your cell phone on, Zack?!" Adeus scolded in a terribly shaky voice.

"I. For. Got. A. Bout. It." the spiky raven haired teen annunciated each syllable as his eyes quickly darted around the room, trying to look for a way out of this problem they were in. "Let's just try to look for a way out of this mess before it decides to lunge at us."

"Are you crazy?!" the blond exclaimed as he had finally recovered from his petrified state and was now barely maintaining a steady voice. "You must be out of your mind to think that we'll be able to get out of this Zack! That thing's practically has his mind set on killing us here!"

"Oh, shut up, Cloud!" Adeus scolded in a hushed whisper as the monster continued to intently look at them with a hungry and deadly gaze. "Zack's been in even worse situations than this, I'm sure. He's probably been in some where he had other SOLDIERs with him. If he can manage to get out of those messes, then I know he'll be able to find a way out of this one."

_Oh, I hope I can guys,_ Zack thought as he continued to think of a way out. _I've never faced anything this crazy before. Gaia, I hope that I can at least get you two out of here._

Just then, an idea came to his mind; an idea that could possibly get all three of them out of this. The only thing now was that they had to be lucky and have everything they needed for this plan to work. Otherwise, there was going to be no hope for any of them.

"Does one of you have Fire Materia on you?" Zack asked as he kept his gaze of the monster and making sure that it did not move towards them.

"I-I have one," the blond whimpered out as he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself.

"And do you have a Blizzard on you, Adeus?" he asked the other cadet, his voice sounding more hopeful.

"L-last time I checked, yeah," the long haired teen answered quickly with a slight nod, not once taking his eyes off of the creature.

"Good. I need you to take them out. Make sure you do it discreetly though. I don't think this thing will really move towards us until we do something sudden. I'll tell you what to do after that."

Without questioning what he had planned or wasting a single second, the two cadets took out the necessary Materia from their armlets. Zack also did the same thing and took one from his armlet.

"Alright, here's the plan, you two," he began as the monster started to shift around a bit, seemingly becoming reckless and looking as though it was going to attack at any second now. "I'll hit it with my Fire spell so it'll be momentarily distracted for a bit. That's when I want the two of you to go at it with your magic and make them collide with each other right in front of the monster. Make sure that they collide with each other or my plan won't work."

"How the hell's that supposed to help us?" Cloud wondered as he had the Materia firmly in his hand momentarily forgetting about his fear and replacing it with confusion at what his best friend/mentor was saying.

"You'll see. Just do what I say when I say it. We can't afford any mistakes here. Make sure you guys are ready for anything."

After saying that, the young SOLDIER held onto his Materia tighter. He took in a deep breath, and in response to it, the monster got itself into a pouncing position, sensing that something was going to happen and readying itself for it.

"Fire!" he shouted right at the same time as the monster made its move towards the three.

When the ball of fire appeared, it went straight for the monster and made direct contact with it. Unfortunately, it did not do much, if any, damage to the beast, but it did manage to push it back a bit and fall onto the floor in surprise since it was caught in mid-air and could not do anything to stop or dodge it.

"Now, you two!" Zack exclaimed just as the monster's body fell onto the floor with a loud thud. "Cast it now!"

Without wasting a single second, the two cadets concentrated on the magic housed in the Materia and successfully cast them. As to their mentor's instructions, they made sure that their respective magic came right in front of the monster and collided with each other. Once that was completed, they saw a bunch of white mist and vapor surrounding the area, making it pretty much impossible to see anything beyond it.

"Good job!" he exclaimed with a smile as he quickly took out his sword and replaced the Materia in his hand for another one placed on the hilt. "I'll take care of the rest from here!"

With great agility that one would associate with all 1st Class SOLDIERs, Zack outstretched his hand with the Materia towards the monstrosity in front of him. Instead of an orange ball of fire coming out this time around, a round blue ball of freezing mist formed and flew towards the misty mess. Upon reaching the area, the mist immediately started to freeze over until there was no more moisture in the air surrounding the monster.

"Now's our chance!" the SOLDIER exclaimed as he made a mad dash down the hallway that the three of them were previously running through. "Let's go before that thing breaks through that wall of ice!"

Still somewhat shocked at what they had just seen happen, the two cadets barely managed to register what their mentor had said and followed closely behind his tail. By the time that they had turned the corner, they heard a loud roar and the sound of the wall of ice shattering. It was with these noises that the three started to move even faster in an attempt to outrun the beast.

"We've got to get to the other side of this floor!" Zack instructed them as they turned another corner and passed by one of the assembly doors. "We'll make our escape from there!"

For about a minute, the trio ran like the wind while the roaring sounds of the monster kept them from stopping. It was only when they had reached the other side of the floor they were on did they see a set of elevators similar to the ones that were near where they were caught by the monster. Without wasting any time, the teen SOLDIER pressed the button that would summon the elevator to their floor. However, he started running again instead of waiting for the elevator to come.

"We're not taking the elevator?" Adeus asked as he took a quick one-second break on the wall before continuing on.

"There's another set of stairs nearby," the spiky raven haired teen replied as he reached out for a door handle that was close to him. "We're going to try and lose that thing in here."

"Then why call for an elevator?" Cloud inquired as he kept sneaking a look behind him to make sure that the monster was not right on their tail.

"Distraction purposes. Now get in here and start running up to the next floor. Don't leave the stairs without me!"

Ushering the two into the stairwell first, Zack held the door open with one hand while he held onto his sword with the other. As he was about to enter the stairwell, he heard the sound of the elevator he had summoned earlier arriving at their floor.

"Just in time," he sighed as he closed he door, the sound of the creature's roars sounding not even a second later. "Better get out of here before that thing figures out we're not there."

"What's going on down there?" Adeus inquired from over the stair railing. "Are you alright?"

"Just keep going until you reach the outside of the next floor!" he instructed the cadet as he ran up to catch up to them, ignoring the question of concern aimed at him. "Don't go through it yet, though."

In about thirty or so seconds later, the SOLDIER had caught up to the two cadets who were busy trying to catch their breaths after running for the sake of their lives. Being that they were only a part of the army for a few months, they did not expect to be thrown right smack-dab in the middle of some chaotic mess so soon; and right inside their base of operations, no less! Definitely not the greatest start to their career as a cadet and their journey to become SOLDIERs.

"Are the both of you alright?" the spiky raven haired teen asked as he took a few deep breaths in order to steady his breathing, an attempt that worked after a few seconds of doing so.

"Y-yeah," Cloud panted out as he lightly leaned against the cold metal wall for support, obviously having slight difficulty regaining his breath. "A bit tired…, but we're still…in one piece."

"I'm good," Adeus replied, just as winded as the blond was, although opting to rest on his knees instead of the wall. "I'm just…unbelievably shocked…at what just happened to us."

"At least you both got out of it unscathed. We'll go ahead and rest here for a couple of minutes before we move on. It sounds like that monster took the distraction and lost sight of us. That probably means we just lost access to one of the elevators, too, as a result of it."

"What kind of monster was that thing, though?" the blond asked as he took a deep breath to steady his voice. "That seriously didn't look like anything I've seen before. Hell, I've seen cuter monsters back in the mountains of Nibelheim than that thing, and that's saying something."

"Well, I'll take your word on that, Cloud," the long black haired cadet answered with a shake of his head. "I've lived in the slums of Midgar all my life, so I haven't really seen any horrifying monsters. The worst I've seen until now was an unusually large and seriously deformed red hedgehog-looking monster. It was one of the most ugliest things I had ever seen at the time. However, I think I can safely say that this creature has taken over that number one spot."

"Oh, you can say that again," Zack agreed as he took his cell phone out from his pocket and flipped it open. "In all the missions I've ever been on, I've never come across something like this. Anyway, I better set this thing on vibrate now before it goes off at a bad time again. I don't want a repeat of the same thing the last time it rang. I suggest you two at least make sure yours are on silent, too."

"They have been," both of the cadets said simultaneously, looking at each other with a small chuckle at the timing.

"Well, don't I feel like the odd one out of this group," the SOLDIER replied sarcastically with a sigh as he fiddled around with his phone until he managed to put the setting on vibrate. "Well, at least I can say that that scene won't be repeating itself anytime soon," he added with a triumphant smile.

However, just as he was about to place the device back into his pocket, it started to vibrate, scaring the hell out of Zack in the process.

"Good Gaia!" he nearly shouted as he fumbled with his phone a bit before regaining his grip. "Why does my phone always has to go off at the time when I don't want it to?"

"Maybe you're being cursed today or something," Cloud said in a joking manner as he rolled his eyes a bit. "If you're going to be this jumpy around your phone, why don't you just abandon it? It seems like it's only going to cause more trouble rather than providing help for you."

"Oh, very funny, Cloud," Zack replied as he flipped his phone back open and placed it near his ear. "This is Zack."

"Zack, are you and the others alright?" a concerned voice, along with a few subtle background noises, was heard asking on the other end. "I heard a lot of roars and other loud noises coming from the hallways a couple of minutes ago."

"Angeal!" he exclaimed as another roar was sounded, both the group and Angeal hearing it as plain as day from their respective places. "We-we're all okay here. A monster kind of came out of nowhere and tried to kill us, but we managed to escape before it had the chance."

"That's good," the older SOLDIER was heard sighing out of relief. "The last thing I need right now are more people dying on me at the hands of this crazy monster. Where are you right now?"

"We barely managed to escape through the stairwell. We're still in here right now trying to recoup ourselves before moving on."

"Don't take too long with that. Also, don't forget that Director Lazard's office can't be reached by stairs. You can only get there by elevator."

"Don't worry, I made sure to remember at least that through all this craziness. By the way, where are you right now?"

"I just met up with the three cadets that passed you by earlier. They're a bit startled, but not harmed. I'm going to escort them out of the building first before I go ahead and rejoin you. For now, you must…"

Suddenly, Zack's phone became quiet. He knew that Angeal had not hung up yet for he was still able to hear the faint background noises of wherever he was calling from. Even Cloud and Adeus, who were able to hear the conversation somewhat because of the quietness inside the stairwell causing the voice to echo ever so softly, found the sudden lack of speech unsettling.

"A-Angeal, are you still there?" Zack asked in a voice that was quickly growing into panic. "What's happening there?"

"Shh!" came a rushed whisper from the other end of the line. "I think that the creature's right outside our hallway."

"Oh, no!" the young SOLDIER murmured worriedly as he bit his bottom lip. "Try not to make any loud noises. They're good at detecting noise."

"Thanks for the warning. Look, you stick to your end of the plan and don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'll call you later."

"A-Angeal, wait!" he called out to his mentor. However, all he got as an answer was the cutoff tone.

"What's going on?" Adeus asked as he saw Zack roughly place his phone back into his pocket. "Is Angeal alright?"

"For now," Zack answered as he crossed his eyebrows in worry. "That monster's just outside where he is."

"Do you really think he'll be okay with that thing roaming the hallways?" Cloud inquired as he bit his bottom lip nervously. "I mean, we barely managed to get away from that thing alive."

"Don't worry, I know that he can take care of himself. I just wished he didn't give me his Blizzara Materia before we split up. It would at least allow me to relax if I knew he wasn't only relying on his sword skills to keep him alive."

"He gave you the Blizzara Materia that you used earlier?" the long haired cadet asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't remember seeing him give it to you. When did that happen?"

"While you two were busy being captivated by the sight of all the crazy zombie cadets coming at us. Anyway, now's not the time to talk about that. We need to get to the director's office now before thing's get even worse. The problem is that we have to get to an elevator before we can…"

Before he could finish his sentence, his phone started to vibrate again, startling him once again, although not to the same magnitude as before.

"Damn it, who is it now?" he growled as he took the device out again and placed it by his ear.

"Why didn't you pick up the last time I called you?" a calm and somewhat impatient tone asked on the other end. "You know I don't like it when you don't answer when I'm trying to call you."

"T-Tseng!" the SOLDIER exclaimed, slightly startling the two cadets. "You were the one who called earlier?"

"I thought I just answered that, Zack," the man, whose name the cadets found out to be Tseng, replied in an annoyed voice. "Anyway, that's besides the point. I called because there's something that I need you to do."

"Uh, do you think that it can it wait until later? I'm…kind of busy right now with…something even more important. Things…are kind of crazy and getting out of hand over here. I know you're a Turk and all, but I really can't go around helping you out with things right now."

"And why would that be the case?" the Turk inquired in a unbelieving tone. "What's so crazy or important going on over there that it would require your full attention and keep you from…"

Before he could finish his question, another loud roar, somewhat softer but still loud enough to be heard, sounded. With it, Tseng's breath was heard being caught in his throat as he gasped in shock.

"What was that?" he asked, his tone suddenly growing very serious and losing its previous annoyance. "Was that a monster's roar I heard just now?"

"Uh, would you believe it if I said yes?" Zack answered in a questioning tone. "Look, I got to get to the director's office and have him declare a state of emergency. Things are literally getting out of hand and falling apart here. It's almost as though hell itself has appeared in this entire building."

"It's really that bad?" the Turk asked through what sounded like clenched teeth. "Can you and the other SOLDIERs handle it?"

"Uh, I don't think…"

"Never mind, don't answer that. Judging by how you're hesitant in answering, I'll take it that this is a problem that's not going to be easily solved. I'll go ahead and return there as quickly as I can. I'll call in all my other men and have them back you up. Geez, why today of all times to have all the Turk members out of the base?"

"Make sure you tell them to be careful," the SOLDIER quickly warned Tseng before he had a chance to hang up. "I know you guys have seen crazy things before, but I don't think you've ever seen anything this crazy in your entire life. And I'm not kidding on that. Whether you believe it or not, a lot of the cadets here have somehow turned into zombies and started to attack us!"

"What?! The cadets have turned into zombies? But that's not possible. There's no way that could happen, unless…"

"Uh, Tseng?" Zack called out to the man as he trailed off from his sentence. "Is everything okay?"

"Make sure you don't get yourself bitten by any of those things," the Turk said suddenly. "I don't know just what exactly is going on there, but I have a small hunch. Me and my men will be there as soon as we can. Until then, keep yourself alive and don't end up getting yourself killed by those things."

"W-wait a minute!" the teen exclaimed, but it was already too late as he was once again greeted with the annoying droll of the cutoff tone.

"What's going on?" Cloud asked as he saw the slightly frustrated look on his mentor's face.

"Well, it sounds like we got some backup coming our way," Zack answered with a slight growl as he put his phone back into his pocket. "At least there's some good news amidst all this hell."

"Who's coming to help us?" the blond asked as relief washed over his demeanor.

"The Turks are coming," the SOLDIER teen answered. "Their leader, Tseng, just called and I told him what's going on here. He said that he's going to be bringing in all of his men back here to help us out."

"Did he say how long it'll be until he or one of his men get here?" Adeus inquired as he fiddled around with his gun a bit.

"He didn't say. It could be thirty minutes or a couple of hours. I just don't know. What I do know is that we have to stick with our end of the plan and hold out as long as we can until we can get more help. I seriously doubt that it'll be very easy to get out of this place."

"What great words of encouragement, Zack," the blond groaned dejectedly. "The two of us are practically scared out of our minds and you're trying to make us feel even more morbid."

"You do need to work on your reassurance skills a bit," the long haired teen agreed with his friend.

"Look, we seriously don't have time for this. We've wasted enough time resting in this stairwell here as it is. We need to get going now. Here's the new plan: We'll going to go up to the 49th floor from here."

"The SOLDIER floor?" the two inquired.

"Yeah, I know that floor better than this one. It's kind of a wide open space there, too, so it shouldn't be as cramped as it was in the regular hallways. Come on, let's get going!"

And with that, Zack quickly started to run up the flights of stairs towards the 49th floor; the SOLDIER floor.

"Hey, wait for us!" Adeus called out as he ran up the stairs himself, Cloud following close behind.


	8. The Piling Odds Against Survival

**Chapter 7: The Piling Odds Against Survival**

"Alright, here we are," Zack said as they reached the door that would lead them to the SOLDIER floor. "Just past this door is the floor that's reserved for only SOLDIER members like me. Cadets are rarely, if ever, seen wandering around on this floor, with or without a member of SOLDIER accompanying them. As far as I know, you two are probably the first cadets to visit this floor in a very long time."

"I'm sure that if this were happening at a different time, we'd be happy about it," Cloud replied with a shake of his head as he prepared his gun and made sure his sword was holstered comfortably on his back. "Right now, though, I could care less about it. All I care about now is to try and survive this whole mess."

"My sentiments exactly," Adeus agreed with the spiky blond teen as he checked his armlet and the Materia on it. "I'm more concerned about trying to get to the director's office in time before that monster gets there first."

"Geez, you guys sure know how to make the mood feel even more down, you know?" the SOLDIER teen groaned with a small pout. "I was just trying to make you two feel a bit calmer before going in. I mean, we really don't know what's behind this door. It could either be more zombies, another monster, both of them, or maybe something even worse."

"…I think I prefer what you said earlier as opposed to all this freaky and scary stuff you're starting to spew out now," the blond said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "You just said that you were trying to keep us calm and now here you are switching to an uncomforting topic."

"Oh, why don't you make up your mind on what you want me to say, Cloud?" Zack asked, his voice now laced with agitation. "I swear, you're just doing this so you can annoy me and get a good kick out of it."

"Guys, can we please stick on the matter at hand here?" the long haired cadet intervened before this mini argument progressed any further. "Now is really not the time for us to be standing here and do nothing but talk about something that can wait for another day."

With a growl of annoyance, Zack waved off Adeus's comment and turned to face the door, his arm outstretched and ready to turn the handle. Cloud, on the other hand, decided to just roll his eyes and give a sigh of defeat.

"Anyway, I'm going to go in first and make sure everything's okay out there," the spiky raven haired teen continued to talk as if though the previous conversation earlier never happened. "You guys stay in here until I say the coast is clear. Remember, this is a new floor we're on and we don't know just what may pop out at any corner at any given time. Make sure to stay attentive and don't ignore even the slightest bit of sound or movement you catch. That's probably the very first rule they the 1st Class will teach you when you're out on the battlefield for your first time."

Without leaving any room for acknowledgement that the cadets understood what he had said, the teen SOLDIER opened the door and immediately poked his head outside. After taking a quick peek on his left side, he leaned forward a bit so he could see past the open door. Both directions were as normal as they could be under the circumstances.

"Everything looks good so far," he stated as he brought his full body out into the side hallway and urged the two cadets to do the same. "Not a single sign of a zombie or monster anywhere."

"Let's hope we can keep it that way," Cloud said in a hopeful tone as he came out and stood next to Adeus, who had entered the floor before him. "I don't want another swarm of zombies or surprise visits from monsters."

"Well, at least they didn't manage to kill us yet," Adeus replied as he saw their mentor constantly turning his head this way and that. "That's something that should count for us in here. If we can survive a hoard of zombies coming at us and a bloodthirsty monster roaring at us with thoughts of rendering us to shreds, then I'm sure that we can survive anything else this crazy building has to throw at us."

"Amazingly, I think you're right on that, Adeus," the 1st Class answered with a wide grin. "You two are definitely one-of-a-kind cadets. You both have the skill to survive whatever's thrown at you and you actually lived through not only a zombie swarm, but also a full-blown, terrorizing monster. That's more than what any of us 1st Class SOLDIERs could say when we were cadets like you."

"Well, don't we feel real special," the blond answered sarcastically as he and Adeus followed the SOLDIER around a corner. "I'm sure it's not everyday that you see the Shinra Company building attacked in the weirdest and probably most horrifying way possible. Of course the two of us have probably been in more hot water than you were as a cadet. You didn't have to go through with and survive this hellish nightmare!"

"Zack, where do you plan to go from here?" the other cadet asked, deciding to intervene before the sarcastic remarks started to get out of hand.

"We're going to the elevators on this floor," he answered as he slowly brought his eyes to the lounge area where things looked to be scattered all over the place. "I'm not sure if you heard, but Director Lazard's office can only be reached by elevator. Don't ask me why that is; it's just how the building was built. Anyway, once we get there, we're going to ride it up to the 55th floor which is where he is, assuming that he hasn't already caught wind of this whole thing."

"How can the director not know that something like this is happening?"

"You tend to miss out on certain things when you stay cooped up in an office all day long. So it's up to us to tell him about it."

With that said, Zack started to walk just a little bit faster with new determination in each of his steps. Cloud and Adeus followed suit and stuck close to him, keeping their eyes and ears open for any crazy things. It was only until they heard the SOLDIER's slight gasp of surprise did they drop their intense scan of their surroundings.

"What is it, Zack?" Adeus inquired as he turned his head to see what had made his mentor stop in his tracks. "What's so… Oh, boy…"

"I don't like the sound of that," Cloud replied grimly as he, too, looked at whatever it was that his two friends were looking at. "…And we're probably seeing something that bodes only bad news."

Right in front of them was their intended destination, the elevators. However, something that they didn't expect, yet at the same time did, was lying in their path. Another dead person was lying in a pool of his own blood face-up, his eyes glassed over and his face frozen in place with the look of sheer terror and fear. He laid in between an elevator door, the door constantly trying to close only to end up bumping into the body's ribs and opening back up. It was a never-ending cycle as the body kept lurching up a bit with each attempted closing of the door.

"Why do we never seem to catch a break tonight anymore?" Zack sighed as he cautiously walked up to inspect the bloody mess of a body, knowing full well what could possibly happen after the attack in the assembly room. "This guy's an executive worker here. He died in the same way as some of the others from earlier; slashed all over and dealt a brutal blow across the throat."

"Another poor guy slashed to death…," Adeus whispered in shock as he tried to keep a lookout at their surroundings. "Either that monster we saw earlier really knows how to get around, or there's more of them lurking around in here. I'm willing to bet all my money on the latter of the two."

"Well, I'm not waiting around to find out," the SOLDIER stated plainly as he started to take a hold of the body's legs and pulled it out of the elevator doorway. "Make sure you hold the door, Cloud. I don't want it to close in case it starts to move and then we'll have to wait a while."

"G-got it," Cloud acknowledged with a nod as he did as he was told. "Just…don't go wandering around with that body."

"Don't worry, I'm just relocating it right here," Zack indicated to a spot beside the wall near Adeus. "At least he can stop being squashed by the merciless elevator door now," he added in a joking manner.

At this remark, the blond could not help but feel a small chuckle brewing at the back of his throat. He managed to muffle it, though, by pretending to cough. He heard Adeus do the same thing, although he was not sure if he was also trying to stifle a laugh or was really coughing. Their mentor always found a way to squeeze in a joke somewhere. They were bound to laugh, or even just chuckle, at one of them sooner or later. Now just happened to be that very time.

"Okay, we can get going now," the SOLDIER teen replied with a small boyish grin as he saw his two friends and trainees trying to stifle their chuckles. "Adeus, you go ahead and get inside first."

With a quick nod, the cadet entered the elevator, trying his best to ignore the bloodstains that stood on the walls like mural paintings and Cloud's obvious look of disgust at such a scene. The SOLDIER went in next followed by the blond as he cleared the space between the floor and the elevator, allowing the doors to close successfully without anything impeding it.

"It looks like that guy managed to press the 53rd floor button before he was killed," Cloud noticed as he was about to press the button for the 55th floor and saw the aforementioned one lit up. "It looks like we're going to be making an unexpected stop on our way up."

"Don't let your guard down, then. Actually, don't let your guard down anywhere period, especially not in here. Anything can easily go wrong in a place like this, and we certainly don't have enough maneuvering space to use any of our weapons or Materia without hurting each other."

"So all we really can use in here are hand-to-hand techniques," Adeus replied with a small sigh. "What joy."

"At least we're somewhat good with that," Cloud added with a small sigh and a half-smile. "At least we're better than some of the other cadets were during our initialization tests."

Before he could say anything else, though, a soft ding indicated that they had arrived at the 53rd floor and were now slowing down. All of them noticeably tensed up a bit as they prepared themselves for what could possibly meet their eyes.

"Once we pass this, we'll be on our way to the director's office," Zack stated as the room lurched to a stop.

Another second later, the elevator doors opened and revealed everything that was in the hallway on the other side. With it all the way open, they saw, to their relief, that it was empty and nothing threatening was anywhere nearby. In confirming that, they all let out a huge breath they did not know they were holding.

"Well, we lucked out on this one, you two!" the young SOLDIER exclaimed with a smile. "It looks like there's going to be no problems here."

Right when he made that statement, though, something unexpected made itself known to the three of them. Just as the doors were about to close, an arm from either side of the door quickly snaked their way in and managed to successfully jam the door. Another moment later, they saw two bloody bodies staring at them with familiar glazed eyes and trying to make their way inside.

"Ah, damn it!" he exclaimed as he attempted to kick one of the offending zombies' hand out of the doorway, which only resulted in the sickening sound of crushing bone against boot and metal and an unfazed, if not more determined, dead walking guy. "These things are up here, too?!"

"Isn't anywhere inside this building safe anymore?!" Cloud shouted as he punched and backhanded the zombie closest to him in the head, causing it to recoil a bit yet not lose its balance for its hand was still firmly gripping the wall of the elevator.

"Apparently not!" Adeus answered the rhetorical question as he a high front kick at the previously punched zombie's head, which caused it to falter even more after its previous strikes suffered from the blond and let go of the wall, and pushed it back with a well-delivered side kick. "After all, since when did Hell itself have anywhere safe to go to when there are things like this roaming around?"

"Point taken!" Zack replied somewhat childishly as he delivered a four-hit combo at his target; an elbow to the torso from his left arm followed quickly with a backhand to the face and redirecting the arm downwards towards the gut and finishing it off with a strong punch from his right fist. With the combo successfully delivered, his target practically flew away from the door and landed in a heap on the wall behind it along with the other one who was struggling to get up. "That takes care of this problem," he stated as he rubbed his hands together.

"For the love of Gaia!" the blond swore as he gave a relieved sigh. "Things are _definitely_ going to get worse in here before they get any better. How in the world did zombies manage to make their way up here?!"

"Things are definitely worse than we first thought," the long black haired teen said as the doors started to close again without anymore interruptions.

"I'll say," Zack agreed with the both of them as the elevator started on its course again. "I don't know if you two noticed, but those zombies earlier were once executive workers. They weren't cadets."

"What is that supposed to mean?" the spiky haired cadet asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It means that whatever's causing people to turn into these crazed zombies is not just affecting cadets; it's affecting everyone. I don't know how it starts, but if we're not careful, we can easily turn into one of them. We have to be really careful from here on out lest we want to become one of them."

For the next couple of seconds, everybody inside stayed quiet, thinking about their situation and how it had just took a big turn for the worst. Seemingly impossible odds were stacked against them. Sure, they were about to meet up with the director and have him announce a state of emergency, but what was going to happen after that? How were they going to get out of this place with all those things crawling around on probably every floor of this building? How were they going to get the director out safely, if that was what they were to do next? Staggering odds were piled against them and the rays of hope were just barely shining through.

Actually, not shining at all might have been a better statement. A second before the elevator came to a complete stop on the 55th floor, they heard a loud, startled scream coming from the other side of the door. They could not make out what the garbled shouts were saying, but they could tell that something bad was going on and they were about to see it for themselves.

"Th-that was the director screaming just now!" Zack exclaimed as he felt his breath get caught in his throat. "Don't tell me that a monster managed to make its way up to his office?!"

"Wh-what are we going to do?" Cloud asked as he instinctively took his gun out and readied it for combat.

"Isn't it obvious, Cloud? We're going to go and save Director Lazard from whatever it is that's threatening to take his life," the SOLDIER stated plainly as the room lurched to a stop.

"Do you…really think we can take care of it by ourselves?" Adeus asked with eyes that reflected his uncertainty and hesitation. "I mean, we don't know what's even in there right now with the director."

"I don't know, Adeus. What I do know is that we can't be too sure about it if we don't at least try our hand at it."

Without saying another word, the three saw the elevator doors begin to open. They all instantly took a deep breath and prepared themselves for what they were about to get themselves into.


	9. Battle Against Hell's Beast

**Chapter 8: Battle Against Hell's Beast**

Once the elevator doors were fully opened, Zack all but ran out of it and into the floor committed solely for the director's office. It was from there that he drew his sword from behind him, Cloud and Adeus right behind him with their guns at the ready. Fully armed and prepared for what was to come, they ran forward a bit so they could get around the wall that was in their way. Once they passed it, they were able to see the area where Director Lazard normally worked at. Unfortunately, it was just as they feared; a monster was on this floor and was moving towards the director, who had his back towards the wall, with the intent to kill.

"Director Lazard!" the SOLIDER shouted hastily as he brandished his sword threateningly at the monster that had its back towards the trio. "We're here to help you! Are you okay?"

"Zack!" the man yelled from his spot in front of the monster, causing it to turn around to see the three new people. It looked almost identical to the one they saw a few floors down, sans the blade-arm being immensely caked in blood. "Thank Gaia you're here! I thought no one would have been coming up here to help me! Go and do away with this monstrosity!"

"No problem!" he exclaimed with a cocky smile. "Just let the three of us handle this thing. You go ahead and activate the emergency plan. Yes, things have gotten that bad in here. I'll explain it to you later, though."

"Wh-what?!" Director Lazard stuttered in shock at what he had just heard and was instructed to do. "Are you saying there are more of these things roaming around inside this building?!"

However, he did not have a chance to say anything else to the SOLDIER because the said person now had his full attention on the monster that had been threatening to take his life moments ago. The monster was also looking at the swordsman with a murderous, almost hungry, gaze.

"Come on, you big ugly thing!" he taunted the monster as he quickly changed his attitude and attempted to draw its attention to him and away from the director. "Why don't you pick on someone who can actually fight you? Yeah, I'm talking to you, you amazingly creepy thing that somehow managed to come up here!"

Whether the monster was able to comprehend the taunts being thrown at it or not, it did not matter. It readied itself in a pouncing stance much like the one from earlier. It then lunged at the SOLDIER, its deadly sharp arm poised for a slash. Preparing to take the strike head-on, he waited until the last minute to bring his sword up to his left side and parry the slash aimed at his throat. Once it was successfully parried, both the monster and Zack jumped back; the two cadets took advantage of this and let loose their bullets onto the retreating monster.

"Keep covering me with those bullets, you two!" Zack instructed the two as he readied himself to rush the monster. "Don't engage yourselves in close combat with it unless you absolutely have to!"

"Way ahead of you on that, Zack!" Cloud remarked as he continued to pummel the creature with his regular bullets.

"Just don't go so crazy that you end up getting yourself killed!" Adeus reminded the SOLDIER as he quickly switched out his empty clip with a magnum one from his pocket.

"As if I would ever let that happen to me!"

With that said he ran right at the monster and swung at it, stopping about a foot-and-a-half away from it. The monster, though, was smarter than it looked and actually half-parried, half dodged the blow aimed at him. This caught Zack off-guard and he hesitated in his movements.

"Smart little bastard, aren't you?" the teen SOLDIER cursed silently as he stared the creature down for a second or two.

At the very last moment, he managed to recover from the slight shock and just barely dodged the next slash directed at him. He then heard the sound of more bullets being shot out and the slight sound of pain emanating from the creature's lips. Despite these noises, it still kept going at Zack in full force as if nothing was wrong, causing him to back up while dodging and parrying each strong blow accordingly. He could not even try his hand at a counterattack because the monster's normal arm was swinging menacingly at its side, moving for a strike in time with its slashes.

"Damn!" the swordsman cursed as he nearly lost his footing from the constant repetitive strikes he was absorbing and dodging. "This thing knows how to keep itself away from my sword. I can't even throw a slash at him unless he stops swinging his normal arm or stops attacking altogether!"

"These bullets don't seem to be doing much, either!" Cloud exclaimed as he tried to replace his empty gun with a new cartridge. "It just doesn't seem to be slowing down no matter how much lead we put into it!"

"I doubt these bullets are even doing anything to it!" Adeus growled as he placed his gun back into its holster and made a move to reach for the heavy sword on his back. "I'm going to try something new."

"I said to avoid close combat, Adeus!" Zack reminded him as he managed to sneak a glance at the two cadets.

"Who said anything about me going face-to-face with it?" the long haired teen said in a somewhat smug tone as he held his sword tightly with his right hand and started to bring it over his left shoulder. "I'm going to be throwing this thing at it. Let's see it stand up to something like this being thrown at it!"

Figuring out what he had meant to do; Zack quickly parried another swipe at him and dodged under the arm, rolling himself safely away from the creature. It was at this point that Adeus threw his sword like a Frisbee right at it during this one small moment of distraction.

Too busy keeping its eyes on the SOLDIER; the monster twisted its body in turn to his evasive maneuver, swinging its blade-arm over the teen so as to prevent him from taking a slash at it. Because of this, it failed to notice the slight glint coming from the blade that was flying towards it. Just as it saw Zack get up onto his feet, it gave out a loud roar of pain as the dull sound of the sword embedding itself into the regular arm sounded just a moment earlier.

"Direct hit!" Adeus shouted as he threw his arm up a victorious gesture. "That's one arm out of commission!"

"Good one, Adeus!" Zack shouted happily as he threw a slash at the monster's torso, which was left exposed as it tried to comprehend what had happened. "That was just the opening I needed!"

With another roar of pain, the creature staggered a few steps back in both shock and an attempt to get away from the SOLDIER. As its eyes quickly scanned the room, it kept its gaze on where Adeus and Cloud were at. In a fit of rage, it took out the sword embedded in its arm and threw it right at the pair.

"Adeus, watch out!" Cloud exclaimed as he immediately threw his weight onto the other cadet, causing the both of them to fall straight to the ground as the sword whistled by them just centimeters above Cloud's head and the sound of his gun falling onto the floor.

"Whoa!" the pushed cadet exclaimed as his back hit the floor with a thud. With a small groan, he said, "Jeez, that was so sudden, I didn't have time to even react. Thanks for that, Cloud."

"No problem," the blond replied as he made to get off of Adeus' chest. "I'm sure that you'd do the same for me, too."

"The thing's coming right at you!" Zack's rushed voice suddenly shouted as the sounds of his shoes striking the ground in a rush were heard.

In response to the shout, both cadets turned their heads to where their mentor was shouting at. However, something else immediately took over their attention. The monster was now dashing towards them with a murderous look in its eyes. If it were not a monster, they would have actually thought that it had revenge set on its mind.

Without any warning, Adeus quickly pushed Cloud back, who was just about to get onto his feet, and caused him to quickly stumble backwards towards the wall and away from the monster's path. He then quickly rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up with such strength that there was ore than enough momentum to ensure that he would keep moving back even after he had gotten to his feet. However, this movement came just a second too late, for the monster had slashed at him with its blade-arm and the very tip of it made contact with his left arm.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed as he quickly examined his arm and noticed that the wound was nothing but a small gash that looked like it was made by a small protruding needle. "The thing barely grazed me!"

"You stupid monster!" Cloud shouted in frustration as he quickly peeled himself off from the wall, took his sword firmly into his right hand, and made a quick slash at the monster's exposed ribs while it was still recovering from its attack. "Just go down and stay down already!"

Roaring in both surprise and pain, the monster immediately swung its blade-arm at the blond with intent to kill, but he was quicker and managed to duck under it, making sure to slash at the underarm while doing so.

"Nice one, Cloud!" Adeus all but laughed in triumph as he made to grab his sword that was lying a few feet away on the ground after being thrown earlier. "You definitely have it on the ropes now!"

"It still looks like it got fight in it, though!" the blond speculated as he the monster quickly recover and throw another swipe at him, this time with him parrying the blow. "At least that other arm of his is dead!"

"It just doesn't know when to give up!" the long haired cadet grunted in frustration as he held his sword firmly. "Well then, let's just see how it likes this for a change!"

And with that, he began to charge head-on towards the monster, swinging his sword a couple of times in the process. Seeing this, the monster quickly suddenly pushed Cloud backwards, their blades still connected and thus allowing it to do so. However, it fell it bit short in recovering its blade-arm in time, so it opted to jump back a safe distance so as to avoid the downward slash from the heavy sword. Unfortunately, that proved to be a bad move for right when me moved back about a foot, the dull sound of something inserting itself into flesh was heard and the monster gave out another roar, this one filled with such pain, one would have been able to hear it from a mile away. In the next moment, a blade was seen protruding from the creature's chest, the blood, a deep red and coagulated, almost in the consistency of half melted Jello, dripped slowly off the tip and onto the shiny metal floor.

"Heh, forgot that I was still here, didn't you?" Zack asked smugly as he had a smile plastered on his face of the same caliber. "That'll end up being the biggest mistake of your life."

With that said, the SOLDIER quickly pulled his sword out from the monster, causing a sick squelching noise to emit from the action. The creature collapsed and was forced to rest on its blade-arm as a means of support, the blade plunging into the metal floor and causing a few sparks to fly out in the process. It threw a death glare at the two cadets with what little strength it had left after being run through like that.

"How about we put the poor thing out of it's misery, guys?" the SOLDIER asked as he positioned his sword for another strike.

"I have no objections," Adeus simply stated as he prepared his sword for another attack.

"After all we went through to bring it to this state, I'll be damned if we don't kill it now," Cloud sighed tiredly with a huff of his breath.

"Then let's get this over with," the spiky raven haired teen answered as he made a move to run his sword through the monster again just as it was attempting to lift itself up from its slump.

His sword went right through the creature's lower spine and came out from the other end through the stomach area. With a gurgle of pain, it spasm a bit as its muscles twitched in pain. Adeus then took this chance to quickly stab it right through the chest, this one quite possibly right where he supposed its heart was at, making sure to position it so that the blade would not harm Zack. Another squishy, bone crunching moment later, his blade had made it all the way through to its back. Now steadily weakening, all the monster could do was watch as the pain seemed to have completely engulfed it. It just plain refused to die on them.

With a release of a deep breath, it was now Cloud's turn to run down this creature and hopefully put it down for good. With his sword positioned for a stab, he quickly aimed it right at the creature's throat and thrust it right towards his target. Being that it was the neck area and his blade was quite thin, he had no trouble running it cleanly through without any hitches. He, too, made sure that his sword was slightly angled so as to not cause damage to his fellow comrades.

And with that last strike, the monster shuddered once more in apparent pain before it completely fell limp, or as limp as it could be with three swords practically skewering it like it were a shish kabob on a grill. All three of them pulled out their swords at the same time and the creature fell face-first towards the floor with a loud thud. They all stood still for probably a minute or so, waiting to see if this was all just a farce and the monster would jump back to life again and start to attack again. It never came back up again and they all breathed a sigh of relief, happy that this crazy monster was now officially down for the count.


	10. Short Reprieve from Hell's Nightmare

**Chapter 9: Short Reprieve from Hell's Nightmare**

"Well, that's the end of that major headache," Zack said with a heavy sigh as he attempted to wipe his sword clean on the monster's carcass. "I didn't think that it would have put up such a good fight, though. That has to be one of the craziest battles I've ever fought in."

"You said it, Zack," Cloud replied as he performed the same action as his mentor. "That was definitely not how I imagined what my first battle was going to be, though, especially not inside this building, of all places. I thought we didn't stand a good chance against it."

"Hey, at least we survived its rampage," Adeus reminded them as he, too, wiped his blade off with a handkerchief taken out from his pants pocket. He then tossed the bloodied piece of cloth away into an overturned trash can. "It's better than the potential opposite where we all died trying to take it down."

"A morbid way of thinking it, but I guess it works," the SOLDIER replied as he gave a weird look to the cadet before turning his body towards a desk that presumably was Director Lazard's place of work. "Anyway, we have to make sure that the director is alright."

"No need to worry about that," the director's voice answered as his was seen rising from behind his desk where he had been supposedly hiding the entire time ever since they came in. "Thanks to yours and your cadets' timely entrance and skills, I'm safe and unharmed. That thing busted through the window so suddenly that I hardly had any time to get away from my desk and back myself towards a wall before it started to approach me. Another moment later and I would not be standing here talking to you right now. You have my utmost thanks."

"Oh, it was nothing, Director Lazard, sir," the spiky haired raven said as he rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment and gave off a dopey smile. "As long as you're alive and well, then I've done my job here."

"Uh, what about us, Zack?" the blond asked as he stared at his embarrassed mentor with a raised eyebrow. "Don't go thinking that you were the only one who did something here. We had our part in helping, too."

"And I'm supposing that the two of you are the "super cadets" I've been hearing about as of late," the director added as he switched his gaze towards the two of them. "It's a great pleasure to finally see you two in person, although I wish the situation were different. It's Cloud and Adeus, correct?" he asked as he gazed at each one respectively.

"Y-yes, sir," Adeus answered with a slight salute as he and the blond immediately stood at attention when they were addressed as they showed slight surprise at being referred as super cadets.

"Oh, don't act so surprised on hearing me call you two 'super cadets'," the director waved off their polite gesture, which signaled to the two that they able to stand at a relaxed posture in front of him, as he gave a small smile at their surprised reactions. "I've heard from a few 1st Class SOLDIERs, including Zack here, that your performances in your physical and mental training have exceeded beyond that of your average cadets. Truly such high praises for one such as you, and I can see that their words were proven. You both have great skills that truly go beyond that of the average cadets that are here. Anyway, now is not the time for idle banter or army etiquettes, especially if what I heard Zack say a few minutes earlier are true."

"Unfortunately, that's the case as things stand now," the SOLDIER teen answered hesitantly. "Things are getting out of hand and going haywire down on the 45th floor. The cadets that were to assemble in the assembly room tonight have all…, for lack of a better way to put it…, turned into zombies."

"They what?!" he heard the director exclaim, although not in the way he thought he would, for he was speaking in a terribly strained calm voice while trying to keep the total shock of the news from overtaking his entire system at the same time. Then, with a frustrated sigh, "Oh, I figured something was wrong inside this building. Just a couple of minutes before that monster came barging in through the window; I heard a scream coming from the floor below. That scream was sharp enough for it to have traveled all the way up here. I called the security room, but no one picked up down there. Just as I was about to call Sephiroth to have him assess what was going on, that thing came crashing in."

"Oh, I forgot about Sephiroth!" Zack exclaimed as he suddenly remembered about his superior, the great General himself. "I can't believe I actually let myself forget about him! I hope he's alright."

"Don't worry about it, Zack; I'm sure the General of the army himself will be able to take care of himself. He has more than enough skill in him to discern from friend and foe. The only thing that concerns me is that he hasn't called in to tell me anything. I was sure that he would have been the first to figure out something wrong going on in this building. I'm sure it doesn't really matter, though. I'm confident in his abilities and skills that he'll survive this. I do hope, though, that it's easy to discern between one of the zombies and a live person?"

"Only if you don't know what you're looking at, sir," Adeus answered quickly in his mentor's stead before giving a slight cringe as he subconsciously allowed his right hand to touch his left bicep. "Damn, I forgot I got nicked there by that thing earlier when it made that leap towards us."

"Are you okay, Adeus?" Cloud asked in concern as he looked at the small red scratch that was showing through the slightly ripped opening. "Sorry for not getting up as fast as I should have."

"Don't worry about it, Cloud; I'm alright," the long haired cadet answered as he simply shrugged it off. "It's nothing that some antibiotic cream and a band-aid can't heal. Too bad a potion can't be used for healing small things like this. That would be so much easier and quicker."

"Trust me, take it for only a small thing like that and you'll be bouncing off the walls until the next sunrise comes around," Zack warned them with a shake of his head and a small grimace, a clear indication that he had performed such a thing before. "I should know since I made the mistake of doing that and being knocked out by Angeal because of my over-excessive hyperness that resulted from it.

"Anyway," he quickly switched the topic as he heard the two cadets trying to stifle their chuckles failing miserably, "the 45th floor is not the only problem in this building, sir. We found a dead executive on the 49th SOLDIER floor near the elevators. We were forced to make a stop on the 53rd floor and were immediately attacked by more zombies, this time executive workers. We barely fought them off before we made it here to help you out."

"The damage is that widespread already?" Director Lazard asked thoughtfully as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Before I activate the emergency switch, could you tell me one thing? Are there more of those creatures that you just fought roaming around the building?"

"As far as the three of us know, that's true," the SOLDIER replied as he heard the director give out a heavy sigh. "We were almost killed by one when we were trying to escape the 45th floor."

"Then I suppose I have no choice," he director replied coldly as he walked over to his desk. "It's time to activate our emergency action plan."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Cloud suddenly said as he raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Things have been so hectic since we joined together, it just completely skipped my mind. Just what exactly is this emergency plan that I've heard both you and Zack talking about activating?"

"It's a warning system that indicates for everybody to evacuate the building," the man explained as he opened a drawer and took out something that looked like a number pad. "Everybody who's still alive in here have fifteen minutes to escape the building before the security system itself activates. After that time has passed, specialized machines will be let loose and start to patrol the entire building, a select number scavenging on each floor. They are programmed to attack any and all moving targets that come within its range of vision. It's supposed to be an effective way to get rid of any invader, but it cannot discern from friend or foe, so we also need people to evacuate."

"I guess the plan sounds well," Adeus replied with a shrug after hearing the explanation. "Although the part where the machines can't tell whose on their side kind of sucks. Isn't there any way around it?"

"Fortunately, there is. However, I don't see much of a need for any of you three to be needing them, seeing as your primary goal was to see that I was safe, relay the message on activating the plan, and possibly escorting me out of here if things get even worse, right?"

"That's pretty much everything in a nutshell, sir," Zack answered with an acknowledging crooked smile as the director started to punch in some buttons.

"Unfortunately though, that plan of yours has been somewhat compromised," a new voice suddenly announced, making everybody else in the room jump probably a good foot into the air.

Turning around towards where they heard the voice come from, they saw a figure donned in a black tuxedo completed with a white shirt, black tie, and shiny black shoes leaning casually on the wall with an advanced custom-made pistol in his hand. He was sporting jet black hair that was somewhat long, reaching almost down to his shoulders, and had a sort of ruffled look to it. His face was stoic as so were his eyes; neither of them exuding any emotion to the people around him.

"Who are you?!" Cloud demanded a little bit too quickly and demandingly as he felt his breath hitch at the man's sudden appearance.

"Vincent," the man coolly replied as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Vincent Valentine, member of the Turks. I'm here because I was informed of some strange activity going on inside our base of operations. It couldn't have been any stranger than what I've seen coming up here."

"Finally, we see another live able-bodied friendly face around here!" Zack said in an exaggerated sigh as he raised his hands up in the air as if in prayer. "I was wondering when one of you Turks were going to show up. Oh, Gaia blesses us with her good luck!"

"Apparently, I'm the only one as of now who's showed up as of now," the Turk known as Vincent stated as he ignored both the gesture and comment. "I just received a call from our leader, Tseng, a few minutes ago concerning a plan he had managed to come up with after he last called you and you gave him the details. He wants you to go and search the building for Professor Hojo and make sure that he's alive."

"And why do I need to go and find the good professor?" the SOLDIER asked in mild disgust mixed in with sarcasm. "I don't see what's so important about him that he would even need rescuing."

"Need I remind you that Professor Hojo is the head of the science department here at the Shinra Company? That makes him a very important asset to this company. That and there haven't been any known candidates to take his place should the need arise. Those are some of the main reasons as to why we need you to find him.

"There is more to the story as to why we need to retrieve him, but up past that point is all confidential Turk business," Vincent continued on, suddenly sealing his lips as he said those words. "Your main concern as of now is to find him alive and escort him out of this building. It wouldn't do if he were to die here now."

"Wait a minute," Cloud interrupted, much to the Turk's unnoticeable dismay, "isn't the professor the same man who was supposed to have made that speech on something regarding his research earlier tonight?"

"I think that's the same guy," Adeus answered as he remembered the details of the meeting. "I'm pretty sure he's alive, though. Neither Zack nor Angeal mentioned anything about seeing the professor nor did they say anything about seeing his body amongst the rest of the fallen cadets. I guess he probably managed to escape during the entire ordeal that went on in that room."

"So the creepy guy manages to survive while all the normal people don't," Zack stated sarcastically. "Doesn't that strike any of you as odd?"

"I see Tseng was right about you," Vincent said with ever the slightest ghost of a smirk gracing his lips. "You _are_ always quick to jump to conclusions, and once you have it set into your mind, you can't seem to let go of it."

"Well, I'm even sure that you agree with me on his creepiness," the SOLDIER teen insisted.

"I decline to answer that," the Turk simply dropped the matter without leaving any room for a retort. "Either way, the new plan is for me to escort Director Lazard out of this building while you go ahead and search the building for Professor Hojo. That will be your sole mission."

"If I may add something to all this?" the director, who had been quiet ever since Vincent came into the picture, asked in a tone that held authority, yet also was kept in check due to the presence of a Turk, who was higher up in rank than him. "I would like to suggest that the two cadets here go and assist Zack in his work. I understand that it's an unusual request to be making, but these two have been given high praise for their great work in their training. That and I was able to see first-hand how their battle skills were, and they don't disappoint."

"I've been given no orders regarding the two cadets that are here with us. Whether they choose to stay or leave along with you, director, it matters not to me. They may do whatever they wish to do."

"Then we would like to assist Zack in his mission," Adeus answered for both himself and Cloud, the blond nodding in agreement. "We've already taken out this monster here as a group and I think that it would be best if we stuck together. Who knows how many more of these things are inside the building?"

"That's right," the blond added. "It took all three of us to take this one thing down, and we still had a hard time doing so. I don't think that our mentor here would be able to handle it all on his own, even though I know that he's already pretty good in the battlefield."

"If that's what you wish to do, then I have no objections," Director Lazard said with an acknowledging nod of his head. "However, I must ask that you follow Zack's orders to the best that you can. The slightest mistake can be the most fatal. Remember that, you two."

"As I said earlier, you two cadets may do whatever it is that you wish to do," Vincent repeated himself as he looked over his specialized pistol thoroughly and with minimal interest. "My main objective here is to escort the director out of this building and to safety. After that, I will come back and help search for any survivors trying to hide away from all this trouble."

"I find it hard to believe that there are still survivors inside this building," Zack stated in disbelief before he suddenly remembered something, his mouth slightly agape and his eyebrows creased with concern. "Oh, I forgot all about Angeal! He was looking for survivors back on the 45th floor."

"Angeal is still in here?" the director asked as he saw the Turk beckon for him to hurry up. "How is he doing?"

"For now, I'm just not sure about anything anymore," the SOLDIER teen replied hesitantly as he bit his bottom lip in worry, "especially when it comes to how Angeal's doing. The last time we had contact with each other was a little over fifteen minutes ago when we were taking a small rest in the stairwell. We were talking about him rescuing survivors while I come up and tell you about all this when he suddenly hung up on me saying that he heard a monster lurking just outside where he was. From what I heard in the background, I think he managed to find some survivors when he last called. I have no idea what happened to him. I want to call him, but I don't want to put him through what Cloud, Adeus, and I went through and have a monster chasing him down. I can't risk that happening to him."

"So his condition is unknown," the man said quietly as Vincent started to guide the man towards the elevator. "I was hoping that I would at least know one of my very best SOLDIER's condition was. I guess I can only hope that both he and Sephiroth are okay, along with the rest of the SOLDIERs and cadets still in here."

"Do not worry about them, director," Vincent assured the man nonchalantly just as the elevator made its way towards their floor. "These are two of the best SOLDIERs you're thinking about. They won't be so easily killed off by something like this. If anything, they might be able to take out a few and make this place back to the safe building it once was."

"As for you three," the Turk added as he led the director into the elevator first before entering himself, "I suggest that you start searching for Professor Hojo as soon as possible. The sooner you manage to find him, the better. Also, if you're confused as to where to start searching for him, I would suggest the 67th through 69th floors. He would either be in his office or on one of the lab floors."

"Oh yes," Lazard suddenly exclaimed as he remembered something. "I've already activated the emergency system. You'll need to make your way to the security room on the 60th floor and get special badges from in there if you want to be able to roam around the building with no threat to your lives by the machines. Make sure you wear them on the front of your shirts; otherwise, you'll just be another threatening target for the machines. Good luck, you three. I hope that your mission proves successful and that none of you go dying on me."

"Yes, sir!" all three of them replied as they gave a quick salute to the director just as the elevator doors were closing. "We'll do our best, sir!"

"Tseng will call you soon," Vincent said suddenly right before the doors closed and the two disappeared from the trio's view.

"Tseng will call, huh?" Zack repeated as he gave a sour look. "Well, I hope that he doesn't end up calling me at a bad time like the last time he did so."

"At least you silenced your phone this time," Cloud said with a small smirk. "We don't have to worry about anything hearing it and start rushing at us again."

"Let's just hope that he doesn't end up getting spooked by the vibrating like he did in the stairwell," Adeus added in a playful tone.

"I thought we already dropped that," the SOLDIER said with a slight smack of his forehead as he pressed a button to summon another elevator that was not in use by Vincent and Director Lazard. "Those two things have already died and are now rotting."

"Not as long as we're here to keep it alive," the long haired cadet said in a teasing tone, causing Cloud to chuckle quietly a bit.

"Oh, you two are impossible when it comes to crazy things concerning me, you know that?"

"Well, you _are_ probably the only SOLDIER who even wants to make friends with cadets like us," the blond responded, his voice still holding traces of his past chuckles. "I think that it's only fair that we get to try to make fun of you as much as we can _because_ we're friends."

"Maybe I should have just ignored the two of you and I wouldn't have to be suffering all of your harsh words," Zack replied in an overdramatic way, a clear indication for the cadets that he was only kidding around.

The two could not help but laugh at their mentor's antics. It was nice to have a good laugh now after all the hell they have been through. Even the SOLDIER started to laugh along with Cloud and Adeus. It was only after a minute later and the dinging sound of the elevator did they stop laughing, the sound of the elevator doors opening and reminding them that they still had a job to do; a new mission that was just as dangerous, if not even more so, than their previous one. It did not scare them as much, though. After all, they all felt that they have already seen, heard, and fought everything that this damned building had to offer. There just could not possibly be anything else that could really surprise them anymore.


	11. Preparing For The Unknown

**Chapter 10: Preparing For The Unknown**

"You two cadets can go on inside first," Zack said with a big smile as he gestured for them to go through the open elevator doors first. "After all, this is you two's first official mission given to you, and it was ordered to you by none other than Director Lazard himself. It's only fair that you both get to go into the elevator that will take you to the destination first. I can't think of any other way to celebrate this momentous occasion given the circumstances."

"You always find a way to celebrate something great, even in the darkest of times, don't you Zack?" Cloud asked as he shook his head in amazement before following his mentor's gesture and entering the elevator first. "It's just like the time a month ago when it was my birthday. I still can't believe that you actually came up with a legitimate excuse just so you could get me out of class, take me for a night out in the city of Midgar, and take me to a fancy restaurant to eat; and it was all for the sake of giving me "the most unforgettable birthday,' as you so put it then."

"Well, it was unforgettable, wasn't it?" the SOLDIER asked, still sporting his huge grin, as he ushered Adeus to go in next.

"I'll admit, it definitely was one of the _best_ birthday celebrations I ever had in my life," the blond admitted as he felt his lips curving into a grin. "However, I still don't understand how you also managed to bring Adeus along with us, as well. How did you manage to get two cadets like us out of class, out of the base, and show us a great night out in the city giving us fear of repercussion from our superiors?"

"I am quite curious as to how you managed to pull all that off," Adeus replied just as Zack himself entered the elevator and pressed a button that would allow them to go up to the 60th floor. "I know that you are a 1st Class SOLDIER with some authority, but I don't think that you really have that much on you to be allowing us out of the base at a restricted time."

"Let's just say that I have my ways of doing things," the raven spiky haired teen replied with a coy grin plastered onto his face as they felt the elevator start its slow ascension. "Actually, if you must know, I had Angeal in on it so that he could cover us by saying I was giving you some personal one-on-one SOLDIER training in the Midgar Slums, if anyone were to ask where we were and what we were doing. Thank Gaia I knew someone like him; otherwise, I don't think that I would have been able to get you two out of the building, much less pull you out of your classes."

"Remind me to never listen to this puppy whenever he decides to pull his silver tongue act," the blond teased as he gave a happy huff of his breath.

"As long as you do the same for me," the long haired cadet answered with a smirk and a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, that was a low blow, you guys," Zack whined as he feigned injury at the use of his nickname and how they were teasing him, all while using his infamous kicked puppy expression.

"See, doesn't he look like such an adorable puppy?" Cloud teased in a baby tone as he playfully patted and rubbed the sulking SOLDIER's spiky head while standing on the tips of his toes to perform the action better on the taller teen.

"I'm amazed at how he always manages to pull off that puppy look," Adeus said with great amusement as he watched the antics of his two good friends from the sidelines. "I swear, that's one thing that'll never forget as long as I live."

"Alright, alright!" the SOLDIER exclaimed as he playfully swatted away the offending hand from his head, but still managing to keep a playful tone in his words. "Stop going on about how cute I look as a puppy. So it just happened to be one of the things I used to persuade Angeal to cover for us while we were out for your birthday, Cloud. It's not like I do it all the time."

"Are you sure about that?" both cadets asked at the same time with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"A-anyway," Zack stuttered as he attempted to shift the conversation down a new and somewhat less embarrassing path, "we're almost at the 60th floor. Make sure you don't let your guard down once we get out of this room. Remember, anything can happen at any moment."

"I think we kind of figured that out for ourselves a few minutes ago already," Cloud replied just as they felt the elevator lurch to a stop.

"Let's just hope nothing crazy is going on inside the security office up here," Adeus stated, the room quickly losing the cheery atmosphere from earlier as the doors opened and revealed the entire floor to the trio.

"Then on my count, we move out of here and see for ourselves, alright? Ready and…, go!"

At the word "Go!", the trio stormed out of the elevator as best as they could without bumping into each other on the way out and had their respective weapons at the ready; the two cadets reverting back to their guns for the time being and the SOLDIER using his sword. Fortunately, all this flashiness was unnecessary because once they were able to get a good look, they saw that everything up here was practically as normal is it could be. The floors were immaculate and clean of any pools of blood or dead corpses; not a single sign of a monster roaming around the room was present; and the entire floor was practically just one big, wide-open space, so it was practically impossible for any of them to have missed anything out of the ordinary, which there was not.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise," Zack murmured as he kept his cautious side up. "There's nothing up here. That's a first."

"I don't think there's even a security guard up here," Cloud added as he let his gaze wander towards a room that was off to the side a bit with a window that allowed clear view to the inside. "That room over there looks pretty empty."

From the window, they were able to see almost everything inside the somewhat small room. Multiple television screens were situated along the left side wall and they were each showing something different; probably views from different cameras situated throughout the building. On the other side of the room was a small table filled with papers and various other junk. They had two cheap regular plastic chairs, each one on either side of the round table, with a few loose sheets of paper on or hanging on the edge of it and threatening to flutter towards the ground.

"Well, that means that they either ran away or decided to take a long break before all this crazy stuff happened and never came back," the SOLDIER attempted a joke. "Judging by how messy it looks in there, I'm willing to bet on my first choice. Anyway, that's the security room that we need to go to. Once we get those specialized badges from in there, we'll be free to roam around the entire building without worrying about being killed by those machines. That'll be one less hassle off of our minds."

"I still can't believe that the Shinra Company actually created security robots that can't even tell the difference between friend and foe," Adeus said in slight disbelief as he and Cloud followed Zack's lead and went towards the security room. "It sounds pretty stupid if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, President Shinra didn't want to waste too much money on creating the security protocol," the raven spiky haired teen explained as he opened the door and allowed for the two cadets to enter the room first after making sure that everything was safe inside. "Once he saw the bill and the slight defect that was on them, he told the head of security to come up with a cheap, yet effective, way to dodge around the problem. That's how they came up with the idea of using the specialized badges."

"The president sounds like a cheap man," the blond replied as he helped to close the door as soon as his mentor entered. "Who would care about money when it comes to something like their personal safety?"

"Politicians and insanely rich people, that's who," the long haired cadet answered with a sarcastic bite. "As long as they can find a way to save a buck, everything else is practically not as important, including their own lives."

"That's almost exactly what I was thinking, Adeus," Zack agreed with him as he began to rummage through the desk drawers and the tabletops. "God, where did those security people put those things? Could you guys help me look for them? They look kind of like buttons that you just pin onto your shirt."

Suddenly, Zack felt his phone vibrating and momentarily stopped his search so he could answer the phone. Once he had it on, he situated it so it would stay between his shoulder and jaw line while he continued to search the area.

"Zack speaking," the SOLDIER greeted whoever it was on the other side of the line. "Who is it?"

"It's Tseng," the person on the other side of the line introduced himself as the Turk leader. "I'm calling in to request a status report from you."

"Oh, hi Tseng!" he greeted cheerfully as he continued to look for the badges with the help of the cadets, who really did not know what to look for, despite hearing such a vague description of the item in question. "Everything's as great as it could be right now. We got the emergency system up and running and the director is as good as safe, thanks to the efforts of me and my two cadets. He should be evacuating the building along with your Turk buddy, Vincent, right now if they hadn't already made it out."

"That's good to hear," the Turk leader replied. "I hope that you also received my orders from him and are right now acting upon them."

"Don't worry, I'm on it. I'm just right now up in the security room in the 60th floor looking for a few badges so we don't end up being creamed by the security robots that'll come into play soon."

"I was just about to suggest that to you if you were not already doing so. I suspect, then, that Director Lazard told you about them?"

"How'd you know that? Did Vincent go ahead and call you before you contacted me?"

"No, nothing like that. I just figured that the director reminded you about those buttons rather than you remembering them for yourself. It seems that my hunch there was correct.

"Anyway," the Turk immediately changed subjects, sensing that Zack was about to make a retort, which he was not too far off on that guess either, "did I hear you correctly earlier when you said that you were currently trying to locate 'a few badges,' as you so put it?"

"Uh, I think that's what I said," Zack answered as he stopped his search for a moment, his Mako-enhanced ears picking up on the sound of a vibrating phone coming from one of his cadet's pockets. Turning around to see them, he saw Cloud digging into his pocket for the device. "I'm not sure if I already told you, but I have two cadets, Cloud and Adeus, here with me. They're the ones I've been training these past couple of months. You know, the ones I told you were making the greatest progress you've ever seen before?"

"Oh, them," Tseng replied in realization. "The ones that I just happened to have stumbled upon during their sparing session with you last week, right?"

"The exact same pair," the SOLDIER said proudly as he saw the blond put his own cell phone on his ear and started to listen to whoever it was that was calling him while Adeus was half-looking for the badges while listening to the new conversation. "They really can fend for themselves in here, you know that?"

"Judging by how they managed to actually put you on the ropes for a couple of minutes before you got the best of them, I say they're more than adequate to do that. Anyway, I was just calling to check up on your status."

"As I said earlier, everything's as good as it could be for now. I still don't understand why you need to have me save Professor Hojo from this hellhole. I mean, isn't it easier to just have him die, along with his creepiness, and find a new head of science man to replace him?"

"Unfortunately, and I use that term loosely, we can't let that happen. I don't believe Vincent told you a lot about why we need him alive, so I'll go ahead and tell you a bit more. While I do agree that the professor is a bit interesting at times, we believe that he happens to have some sensitive information he has not recorded anywhere except in his own head. It's too important for it to just die along with the professor himself. That's why we need him alive, so we can extract the information from him."

"Yeah, I found them!" Zack yelled happily as he held a small handful of metal badges in his free hand up in the air, effectively startling both of the cadets in the room and quite possibly even Tseng himself. "Oh, sorry guys," he added sheepishly.

"Learn to control your impulses better, Zack," the Turk scolded him like a mother did to her son as he gave an annoyed sigh. "Honestly, you're a teenager who's about to enter adulthood in another year or so; not some immature child who's about to enter his teenage years."

"I said I was sorry," the teen whined as he gave a puppy dog look directed at Tseng, forgetting that he could not see it and was instead laughed at by Cloud and Adeus. "Anyway, what kind of important information does Hojo have that you would need me to suffer his…eccentric personage just so I can rescue him?"

"I already told you; he has some important information on him that needs to be figured out before he dies. As to what the contents of the information are, I'm afraid I cannot indulge you. Depending on how your rescue mission goes, though, I might change my mind on that."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to give it my all then, right?"

"As you should, even if you didn't have incentive from me. I'll be there in less than an hour, so keep your guard up until I get there. A couple more of my men said that they're about a quarter of an hour away from the Shinra building. I'll direct them straight to the 67th floor and higher in order to back you up should you need it once they arrive. I wish the best of luck to you and your cadets."

"Thanks. You be careful, too."

"As I always am."

With that slight overconfident remark, Tseng hung up his side of the line at the same time Zack hung up his. With a sigh, he put his phone back into his pocket and held onto the badges into his other, ready to put his on and give the others to Cloud and Adeus.

"Yes, sir," he heard Cloud answer, turning his head to see who he was addressing. It was then he remembered that the blonde's phone vibrated sometime during his discussion with the Turk.

"Who're you talking to?" the SOLDIER asked as he pointed to the phone.

"Angeal," the blond simply replied as he tried to listen to what was being said on his phone.

"It's Angeal? Let me talk to him, Cloud! Come on, please?"

"If you don't try to throw me the puppy dog look, then I'll give it to you."

"Alright, I won't. Now will you just gimme the phone?"

"Ever the pushy one, aren't you Zack?" Adeus asked as he simply chose to roll his eyes and shake his head.

Ignoring the comment aimed at him, Zack eagerly took the phone from Cloud's hand and placed it onto his ear.

"Ever the impatient one, aren't you Zack?" he immediately heard his mentor say to him teasingly, repeating almost every word the long haired cadet said just a moment ago. "Not only are you a restless puppy, but you're also an impatient one. What an interesting combination we have there."

"Are you alright, Angeal?" the teen immediately started to bombard the older SOLDIER with questions, practically ignoring everything he had just heard. "Are you hurt? What happened to the cadets that were with you? What did you do to the monster? Where are you now?"

"If you would slow down for just a minute, maybe I'll be able to give you an answer," Angeal said, his voice still carrying amusement. "First of all, I'm perfectly fine with no harm done to me, so you can relax. Secondly, the cadets that were with me managed to make it out safely. However, I handed them off to a Turk member who I just happened to run into in the elevator while he was directing Director Lazard out of the building."

"You ran into Vincent and the director?"

"Assuming that Vincent was the Turk's name, then yes. During the time I was sending the cadets I had found hiding in various parts of the 45th floor through the elevator, the director told me that you would be up in the 60th floor security room. Apparently, he said that Tseng gave you a mission with Lazard also issuing a mission order of the same caliber to Cloud and Adeus. Quite a rare treat for them, even though the circumstances for such an honor could've been better.

"As with the monster that was lurking outside of the room I was in when I last called you, everything turned out fine. Thanks to your warning, I was able to make sure that whatever it was that was on the other side of the door didn't hear a single thing on my side. After a few minutes, it passed by and I along with the hiding cadets made our way out. Thankfully, we did not run into the creature; otherwise, it would have been trouble.

"And as for where I am right now…," Angeal continued before letting a long pause make itself known on his side of the phone.

"Angeal?" Zack called out in confusion as he raised an eyebrow. "You still here with me?"

Just then, the door to the security room opened, causing the young SOLDIER to suddenly turn around and see who it was that was barging into the room. Who he saw there completely surprised him, for he was not expecting it.

"…I'm right here in the security room with you," the older SOLDIER finished his sentence as he shut his cell phone and placed it into his pocket. "And as you can now see for yourself, I am completely unharmed without a single scratch on me."

"What the?!" the raven spiky haired teen exclaimed while Cloud and Adeus just looked on as if nothing interesting was going on. "What are you doing up here, Angeal?"

"Probably for the same reasons as to why you're up here," the young SOLDIER's mentor replied. "To get a badge so I can help you look for Professor Hojo without having to conduct battle with the company's guard system."

"How'd you know what we were going to be doing?"

"Did you forget already? I was talking to Cloud while you were busy discussing whatever it was you were talking about with Tseng. And before you even ask, I got Cloud's number when I had your phone in my possession earlier. I wanted to make sure I had a way to keep in contact with you even while you were on your own phone. Seems as though that extra precaution worked out."

"You were snooping around in my phone earlier?" Zack asked as he tossed Cloud's phone back to him, the blond catching it mid-air without any problems. "You know that you could have just simply asked me for his number if you really needed it."

"I wasn't sure at the time if you were even going to be at the assembly room then," Angeal explained as he gave a small shrug. "I just went ahead and looked for the number in case I didn't get a chance to ask you."

"Yeah, but what if I had my entire life story recorded into it and you just happened to see it?"

"Then I would simply say that you were being too careless in placing such sensitive information into a device most commonly lost among people."

"Uh, sorry for disturbing you two's…pleasant conversation," Adeus cautiously interrupted, using the term "pleasant" loosely, "but shouldn't we be talking about more important things? I mean, all of us did come up here so we could find a way to traverse this building, didn't we?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for straying off topic," the older SOLDIER apologized. "I called earlier to see how the three of you were fairing. When I heard from Cloud where you were and what you were planning to do, I came up here so I could see if I could offer any assistance."

"Well, I guess we could use some help right now," Zack said as he threw a badge at his mentor, who caught it effortlessly, while pinning his own onto the front of his sleeveless turtleneck shirt. "After all, Vincent said he was going to help us in our search, but who knows how long it's going to take for him to get up here? That and we have to search three whole floors just to look for the professor."

"According to what Cloud said, he should be situated somewhere between the 67th and 69th floors."

"That's where the Turk advised us to search before he left with Director Lazard," the blond nodded as he pinned on his badge. "From what I heard, that was where Professor Hojo's labs were located."

"It would make sense for us to find him on one of those floors," Angeal speculated as he looked out the office window for no apparent reason. "After all, I can't think of anywhere else the eccentric professor might be at during a time like this. He always dotes on his experiments and works and places them above his very life, thus making it hard for us to evacuate him, even during regular evacuation drills."

"So what do you think our plan of action should be, sir?" Adeus asked as he, too, decided to take a look outside the room. "Just as a matter of opinion, do you think we should split up once we get to the higher floors?"

"The possibility seems rather high of that happening," the older SOLDIER answered as Cloud and Zack just stood around with their arms loosely crossed, not sure of what they should be doing at the time. "However, I don't think that we should jump that far into the plan just yet. Until we have to cross that bridge, we should stick together from here on out. I feel that it would be safer if we did so."

"I'd rather we stick together, too," Zack agreed with his mentor. "In case we ever run into another one of those monsters that Cloud, Adeus, and I saw in the director's floor, I think we'd stand an even better chance with four people. Plus, it'd be safer that way for all of us."

"My thoughts exactly, pup," the man replied with a small grin. "Besides, it would be good if the four of us also kept our eyes open for Sephiroth while we're looking for Hojo, too. I haven't been able to get into contact with him ever since this whole incident came about."

"Even you haven't heard from him?" the young SOLDIER asked with a raised eyebrow. "But, I'm sure you've been calling him, right? If not me, then shouldn't he pick up his cell if the call's coming from you?"

"I would think so. We are good friends, after all."

"Is it possible that he left for a mission before everything started to go crazy here?" Cloud suggested as he took a seat on one of the plastic chairs, feeling that it was going to be a short while before they were on the move again. "Does he usually pick up when he's out on the field?"

"He normally does," Angeal answered as he fixed his gaze onto the blond. "Besides, this isn't a matter of whether or not he's out on a mission. I talked to him a few minutes before I went to the assembly and he said that he had no missions assigned to him tonight. Knowing him, he should still be in this building, trying to help the others escape. And no, he's not dead. I, and I'm sure you as well, Zack, know that it'll take more than a monster invasion like this to kill him."

"That's right," Zack nodded in agreement. "He's even better than you are in sword fighting. If he can take care of you during training, then I'm sure almost nothing can ever take him down, especially something like this."

"So the question now is, 'Where is he?'" Adeus said thoughtfully as he decided to check his gun's condition. "What is he doing in the building right now; and why is he seemingly refusing to answer any calls directed to him?"

"Maybe his phone's just dead," the blond suggested as he began to dig into the small pack of spare ammo that had been hanging on Zack's back, long forgotten during the entire hectic ordeal between their time from the armory to now. "It's not that big of a stretch for that to happen, right?"

"I really doubt it," the spiky haired SOLDIER said as he took the pack off his shoulder and placed it on the table. "Sephiroth's the kind of guy who likes to take certain precautions. That being said, he always has two phones on him, no matter where he is. He says his backup one is always off unless his main one runs out of juice or gets broken. You did try calling both of his numbers, right Angeal?"

"His main one is not dead and his backup is off," the older SOLDIER answered bluntly. "I don't know what's going on through his mind, but he might be doing something very important in here if he's not answering. It's really not like him to ignore my calls to him."

"Hey Adeus, you need a spare clip or two?" Cloud called out to his cadet friend who was still by the window.

"Sure, go ahead and throw a couple to me," he answered as a couple of ammo clips came flying towards him, both of them caught with both hands. He then continued on while placing his spare into his pocket and replacing his empty cartridge, "Well, let's just hope that he's in the middle of something really important and he's not a zombie. That would be bad."

"I know," the blond agreed as he discarded his empty clip and replaced it with a new one. "From what I've heard of him, General Sephiroth is one of the greatest SOLDIERs to have ever been enlisted in the Shinra Army's history. They say he's like a demon on the battlefield."

"Oh, he definitely is," Zack confirmed as he re-shouldered the pack once he saw the cadet finished rummaging through it. "Once you actually see him in battle, you'll figure out that nobody else even has a chance to compare with him."

"Well, demon of the battlefield or not, he's going to have some trouble all on his own in here," Angeal stated as he looked out the window again, this time his eyes seemingly staring at something. "Especially since he doesn't have one of these badges on him. Take a look outside and you'll see what I mean."

Doing as the older SOLDIER told them to do, the three teens looked outside the window, trying to see what they were supposed to see. They did not have to look very hard, though. Outside of the security room, the group saw a couple of sections of the walls opening up and revealing hidden areas that were well-disguised. From them a few machines made themselves known, all of them of differing sizes and sporting machine guns on their metallic arms. On certain parts of their metal bodies, the words "Shinra Electric Company Eradication Protocol" was branded onto them, overlapping a design symbol of the corporation itself.

"Looks like the security system's in play now," Zack said with a small sigh. "Hopefully, these things can help take care of some of the monsters in here and make things easier for us."

"And what happens if they can't, Zack?" Cloud asked, sounding not as optimistic as his mentor.

"Then that'll be all the more reason for us to hurry up and find Professor Hojo and get him out of here," Angeal answered as he made his way towards the door. "Let's hurry up and find him before things get worse."

"As if things could possibly even get any worse than they are now," Adeus replied with a sigh as the three teens followed the older SOLDIER's movements and situated themselves behind the door leading to the outside, waiting for him to open it and officially start with their rescue mission.


	12. Wandering Further Into Hell's Den

**Chapter 11: Wandering Further Into Hell's Den**

With one quick fluid motion, Angeal opened the door and entered the hallway; Zack, Cloud, and Adeus following close behind. The machines took note of their sudden appearance by glancing over at them, but soon returned to whatever it was that they were doing after a few seconds. Apparently, they saw the small badges pinned on the fronts of their shirts and were able to easily recognize them as an ally in the fight, not one of the intruders they were designed to take down.

"Seems like these badges work like a charm," Zack stated happily as he moved right in front of the closest of the four robots within the room and started to jump up and down, waving his arms around as if he were but a young hyperactive child. "They don't see me as a threat. In fact, its almost like they can't even see me!"

"Stop fooling around in front of the damn robot, you restless pup!" Angeal scolded him, putting a slight amount of venom on the young SOLDIER's nickname to emphasize his seriousness. "We don't have time to deal with both your childish antics and a potential accident with those things right now. You either start to act serious now or you can just leave this entire thing to me and leave."

"Jeez, someone's wound up pretty tightly," the spiky raven haired teen answered with a sigh as he stopped jumping around and let the security droid be. "In case you forgotten, Angeal, I was assigned this mission by Tseng, a member of the Turks. It's only right that I fulfill my duties as a SOLDIER and honor the task that he has entrusted me with.

"Besides, I have a pretty good reason for acting all hyper and stuff at a time like this," he added as his mentor simply just shook his head at his student's childish attempt at an argument. "It's not as though I always act like this all the time. I know when it's time to stop playing around and to be serious. I just act like this during certain times like now because we need to have somebody in this group try and keep things as relaxed and laid back as much as possible; especially since we're in a really interesting situation such as this."

"And I'm sure that we all appreciate it, Zack," Cloud said with a facial expression that was half-amused and half-annoyed. "But don't you think you're overdoing it by jumping up and down like a crazy kangaroo in front of a machine that has the potential to kill you?"

"Feeling a bit tense, aren't we Cloud? It's almost funny how you changed from that scared, whiny and whimpering cadet an hour or so ago into a person who's now serious and sometimes sarcastic. When did that change happen without me knowing about it?"

"After I got used to all this craziness about a half an hour ago just before we reached the director's office," the blond explained halfheartedly as he followed the now retreating form of Angeal, who was heading towards the elevators located about a few yards away. "Don't get me wrong here; I'm still scared as heck about this whole situation that we somehow managed to get ourselves into, but I've been able to get somewhat used to all these zombies and monsters coming out of nowhere and greeting us by trying to kill us all."

"A pretty big change to happen in just a half an hour, if you ask me," Zack murmured under his breath as he, too, started to walk towards the elevators with Adeus right next to him.

"Have you ever stopped for a moment to wonder what kind of group the three of us make up?" the cadet suddenly asked, catching the young SOLDIER somewhat off-guard at the randomness.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" he asked in a "what-the-heck" tone at the sudden random question.

"Well, just think about it for a moment. Cloud's the whiny one of the group who tends to become flustered whenever we face something terrifying for the first couple of minutes yet always manages to keep us and himself well protected; I'm the one who tries to stay relatively calm throughout the whole stupid thing by maintaining a level head; and you are the person who tries to keep all of us relaxed by never really acting all that serious, including most occasions when your or your friends' lives are in danger. Kind of the most interesting group of people to come together, if you ask me. And now that we have Angeal with us, the veteran and the one with the most expertise in our group, we just got even more interesting."

"That's an interesting way to think of things, Adeus," Angeal, who was able to hear the conversation thanks to his enhanced hearing through Mako injections, just like Zack, said with a hint of a smile in his voice. "Then again, when I think about the time I first had the privilege of fighting alongside you and Cloud in the assembly room, I can see where you came up with those thoughts."

He shrugged his shoulders as the older SOLDIER pressed a button to summon the elevator. "One's bound to go crazy in here if he doesn't have anything to preoccupy his mind."

"You're right on that, Adeus," Cloud agreed with his cadet friend. "Don't forget that being around those you know really helps to keep your sanity, too."

"All good things to keep in mind when stuck in a situation as hectic as this," the older SOLDIER agreed with a nod of his head. "It sounds to me as though you're not only physically ready to become a part of the SOLDIER program but mentally also."

"You got that right," Zack stated as he stood at the back of the group. "These two cadets are the most unique ones this army's ever laid eyes on. There's nothing that can possibly stop them from making their way all the way up to…"

He never got to finish what he was going to say, though. Right at that moment, a loud sudden noise emanated from inside the elevator shaft, startling everybody. It sounded as though it came from underneath them and was progressively getting higher and higher; each sound getting louder as it moved close to their position.

"Oh, I hope that's not what I think it is," Cloud whined as he, along with the other three, took a step away from the elevator door in surprise. "I don't want to deal with another monster right now."

"I don't think we really have much choice in that matter now, do we?" Adeus replied with a small sigh. "We're never going to catch a break in this place."

"Sounds like we're going to have to fight our way to get to the upper floors," Zack speculated as he readied his sword.

"Actually, I don't think that that'll be a great idea, Zack," Angeal shook his head in disagreement as the noise was getting louder, causing the security droids to look their way and ready their guns. "We should just let the bots here handle whatever it is that's making its way up here. For now, we should just concentrate of trying to get up to the upper floors as quickly as possible."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Adeus asked just as the sound stopped right in front of the elevator door and was replaced with loud banging.

"The stairs," the older SOLDIER answered as he pointed to another door opposite of the security room. "There's a set of stairs nearby where we can make our way out of here. Judging by the ferociousness of those strikes against the door, I feel it well advised that we take those stairs."

"That sounds like a good idea, Angeal," Zack agreed with his mentor as the four robots stationed on their floor started to surround the elevator. "You really don't want to come face-to-face with one of those monsters. Just escaping it is a big hassle. Besides, I'm sure it's nothing that these nice droids here can't handle."

"I hope that's true for all of our sakes," Cloud stated as he and the other three started to maneuver their way out of the small group of robots steadily closing in on their position. "Hopefully, they'll be able to take care of that thing quicker than us."

With that said, the trio followed the older SOLDIER towards a door that was located opposite of the security room. Fortunately, they left at just the right time, for if they had stayed a moment later, they would have been caught by the flying debris coming from the elevator door. However, in their place, it struck one of the bots instead and the piece of machinery was knocked onto its back, giving off a slight static sound before it laid still and broken on the floor.

In the next moment, batches of gunfire were heard coming from the remainder of the droids. Looking behind him for a quick moment, Cloud saw the machines firing right into the now exposed elevator shaft. Loud, monstrous shrieks emanated from the shaft, followed quickly by a quick blur shooting out of the opening.

"The thing's broken in!" the blond shouted as he brought his gaze back to the only other live people near him, noticing that they had also turned to see the creature enter the floor they were on.

"Looks like it's time to run again," Adeus sighed while managing to get to the door first and opening it.

"Man, these things here don't seem to ever give us a break!" Zack exclaimed as he ran through to the stairwell right after Adeus. "They're always following us around like mice with them being cats!"

"Only these things are more persistent," Angeal added as he cast a well aimed Fira spell at the creature, giving what little aid he could to the bots before entering and shutting the door behind him before it even knew who or what had struck it.

Breathing a sigh of relief at not being caught escaping by the monster, the four of them, as quickly and calmly as they could while being ever vigilant, made their way up the stairs, all while hearing the constant noise of gunfire and monstrous roars coming from the floor they were just on. They dared to say a word to one another for fear that there might have been a monster lurking around somewhere in the stairwell that they had failed to notice on their initial scan of the area. After a while, though, they let go of that fear and simply passed it off as paranoia.

"Just how many of those things are in this building?" Zack asked as he began to make a mental count of the ones he had already seen while climbing the set of stairs. "If we count the one I saw on the 49th floor, the one Angeal said he saw initially strike in the assembly, the one in Director Lazard's office, which I along with Cloud and Adeus killed, and the one we just saw, that altogether makes at least four of them! Just how in the world did all of them make it in here?"

"I guess, then, that it's safe to say that they didn't all just happened to sneak into this building," Adeus suggested with a raised eyebrow, a sign that he was confused. "I might believe it if there was one, maybe two, in this whole building only. However, with at least four accounted for; I don't see that being possible anymore."

"You make a valid point there," Angeal agreed as they had just passed the 62nd floor door and continued to climb up. "The question we should be asking ourselves then is 'Where did they come from if not from the outside?'"

"As crazy as it may sound, I think I have an idea," Cloud spoke up, sounding hesitant in his answer. "Maybe, just maybe, these monsters we've been seeing have already been inside this building ever since before we met at the site of the first attack. We never noticed their presence in this building until this evening, when the first one showed up and started its killing spree. I know it sounds ridiculous and crazy, but that's the only thing that I can come up with that actually makes sense."

"…As much as I want to disagree with you on that…, I really can't," the older SOLDER answered in an equally hesitant voice as the blonde's. "I can somewhat understand if there was only one monster reported inside that somehow snuck its way in, but four… If Zack's right on all the encounters we had, then I don't think that those four monsters just happened to infiltrate from the outside at the same time. It's too coincidental for my tastes."

"But that's impossible!" the spiky raven haired teen exclaimed as he stopped dead in his tracks next to the 64th floor, resulting in the rest of the group to follow suit. "If what you guys are saying is true and the monsters were already inside this building to begin with, then just where were they hiding? I highly doubt that they just decided to hibernate somewhere inside this place some years ago without anybody noticing. Also, if they really were in here all this time, then how did they manage to stay hidden all this time? It doesn't make any damn sense!"

"Then do you have a better explanation as to how all this happened?" the long haired cadet countered as he crossed his arms. "To be quite honest with you, I feel more obligated to believe Cloud's and Angeal's theory, being that it's the only one that even has a drop of sense in it. Hell, even I can't come up with a better explanation than that!"

"Hey, I'm not saying that they're wrong, Adeus. I'm just saying that maybe we should try and think of better explanations that make more sense than what they're agreeing on."

"I don't think there is another explanation for all of this, Zack," the blond retorted while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Angeal is right; it can't be a coincidence that we ran into four monsters altogether tonight in the Shinra Building. We managed to witness the destruction the first one caused; we outran one on the 49th floor and another just now; and we managed to kill off a fourth one. Plus, don't forget that we also have a zombie problem in here. I think that kind of escaped our minds for a while."

At this remark, everybody was quiet. None of them said a word for or against it. It was proof positive that they had all forgotten about the zombies that were lurking around inside the building, occupying various floors and just waiting for their next unsuspecting victim. They all, instead, looked at one another, fear reflecting from their eyes, including those from the eldest of the group, Angeal; although he managed to mask most of it to the point where it looked like mild annoyance.

Zack, of course, knew better and was able to see through to his mentor's true feelings, but decided against blurting it out for the two cadets to hear. He knew, despite the childish and puppy-like demeanor he naturally exuded all day long, that this was not the time to be joking around about such matters, especially when they involve feelings like fear, and held his tongue.

Suddenly, a small cough was heard coming from Adeus, breaking the silence and whatever state of mind everybody else was in.

"Well, standing here wondering about the trouble we're in isn't going to be helping us," Angeal said as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We'll just have to keep on moving and hope that the answers about this entire ordeal will come to us as we move along."

"Yeah, you're right," Cloud agreed as he saw the man start to make his way up the stairs again. "What we should be focusing on right now is the mission. We need to get Professor Hojo safely out of here."

"Then what are we all waiting for?" Zack asked as he followed his mentor up the stairs. "Let's hurry up and finish up our work here. The sooner we find the professor, the sooner we can get out of this mess."

"That's a moment I'm definitely looking forward to," Adeus answered just before giving off another cough. "This place is just getting way to stressful for me." Once again, he gave a cough.

"Are you alright, Adeus?" the young SOLDIER asked as he stopped just before the turn on the stairwell to look back at the coughing cadet. "You've been coughing a bit for the last minute or so."

"Don't worry, I'm good," the long haired cadet replied with a nod of his head while visibly trying to suppress another cough, his body shuddering a bit in the process. "It's probably just caused by the situation we're in. We've been in such a stressful position all night and I think it's starting to take a small toll on me. Nothing a good rest can't fix up once this is all over."

"Well, just don't go pushing yourself if you're not in your best shape. I don't want you to go collapsing on me at a bad time," he teased before reverting back to his walk up the stairs.

"You sure you're alright?" the blond inquired again before setting foot onto the stairs.

"Trust me, Cloud; I'm alright. Since when was a little cough like this something to go worrying about? I'm sure that it's nothing to be all concerned about. Once this is all done, I'll go ahead and take a small break. Until then, though, I'll have to keep going no matter what."

"If you say so, Adeus. Just don't go pushing yourself until you collapse or you get so tired you end up losing your concentration and getting yourself hurt or worse. Promise me that you'll stop for a while if you start to feel even worse, alright?"

"Oh, you worry too much. If it makes you feel better, though, I promise," he said before giving out another cough.

"Okay," Cloud dropped the topic with a sigh; apparently content with the answer he was given. He then dug into his pocket and took something out from it. "Take one of these though, just in case," he said as he threw the object towards Adeus.

"Huh?" came the simple reply as the long haired cadet caught the small white item and allowed it to settle on his palm before moving it a bit and reading what was written on it, causing it to make a slight crinkling sound.

"'Nibelheim Cough Drop'," he recited as he looked up from the cough drop to the now ascending form of the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"My mom brought them to me in my mail last week," he explained, stopping for a moment at the same turn Zack was at earlier so he could answer the unvoiced question before continuing to climb the stairs. "Spring's coming up and she knows I tend to start coughing when my allergies kick in. I happen to have a couple in my pocket and figured that you could use one soon."

"Sounds like your mom can always manage to find a way to take care of you, even when you're miles away from her. Anyway, thanks for giving me one of your cough drops, Cloud. I think I'll go ahead and take it now. Hopefully, my cough will die down once it works."

As he attempted to catch up with the trio, Adeus walked up the stairs while unwrapping the cough drop. Once he managed to do so, he placed the wrapper into his pocket and popped the bright yellow lozenge into his mouth. It tasted of lemons, which he happened to love.

Sucking on the somewhat sweet candy-like medicine lightly, he caught up with the others and they were now all continuing on their way to the 67th and 68th floors, their minds set on the mission that they had to accomplish while wondering what else the building had in store for them.


	13. An Unexpected Detour

Hello everybody. Just wanted to say that I had posted a new one-shot a few days ago. If any of you are interested in reading it, its entitled, "Death and Survival".

Anyway, thanks for reading this story and all of my other ones, too. Your reviews are very helpful and your constructive ones even more so. I hope that you all also enjoy reading this chapter. With that said, enjoy this new chapter! Don't forget to read and review! Thanks!

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Chapter 12: An Unexpected Detour**

When the group climbed up one story after their rest earlier, they found that they were forced to stop in their tracks. This was because a portion of the stairs in front of them was badly damaged. The turn that would allow them to ascend past the 65th floor was scratched up and seemingly to be beyond repair. Gouges were noticeable and some of them were wide enough to see clear through. Overall, the poor hunk of metal looked terribly unstable to walk on, leaving the group mystified as to how they were going to proceed.

"…How in the world did this happen?" Zack asked in disbelief as he stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the destroyed metal path that threatened to fall apart at any time. "Did another monster come and cause all this damage here?"

"It must be on the floors above this then," Angeal speculated as he alternated his gaze between the destroyed stairwell in front of him and the stairs above. "If it were below us when we first came in, then we probably would've seen more damage on our way up the past five floors. Destructive monsters, aren't they?"

"I suppose we're going to have to go back to the 65th floor and take the elevator up from there," Adeus suggested, his words slightly muffled due to the fact he was still sucking on the cough drop. "I don't see any other way for us to really get any farther from here."

"But what about the monster that climbed up to the 60th floor through the elevator shaft?" Cloud reminded while nervously wringing his left arm a bit. "What if it destroyed the elevator while climbing?"

"Oh, I'm sure that there's another set of elevators that's still in good condition that we can use," the long haired cadet replied with a smile. "They didn't build two different sets of them for nothing."

"Actually, it's kind of different once you make it up to the 60th floor," the young SOLDIER corrected the cadet while scratching the back of his head a bit. "Everything above that floor is strictly for executive workers only. As such, they have a specialized elevator that allows them to go anywhere between the 60th and 69th floor, along with a route to the very first floor. Because of this, they only built one set of them. The monster from earlier practically busted our only easy way up."

"Are you serious?" the blond inquired in a disbelieving tone. "So the only way for us to go up is through these stairs?"

"Unfortunately, that is the case here," the older SOLDIER replied with a nod of his head. "I would if I could suggest that we take another flight of stairs, but just as it is with the elevators up here, there's only one that connects all the floors in the 60's."

"Welcome to the building constructed and overseen by President Shinra himself," Zack announced sarcastically. "Apparently, he wanted to save money by only making one set of elevators leading up here and one set of stairs connecting these floors. I swear, he cares too much about his money and not enough about people's lives. I mean, who builds such a place where the executives would have a harder time escaping from the building in a case of emergency than those below the 60th floor? Only the president, that's who."

"He really is a cheap man, isn't he?" Adeus asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "I thought you were just exaggerating earlier when you said that he refused to pay more in order to fix up the security droids."

"Anyway," Angeal interrupted, "we should be focusing on the problem at hand. We must find out how to climb to he next floor from here. We can probably do so by pulling ourselves up to there," he pointed to the stair railing that was a good four or so feet above them to the left.

"And just how are we going to get ourselves up there?" Cloud asked. "I don't think any of us here can jump that high to grab onto the railing."

"Maybe we can find a ladder of sorts on the 65th floor," the long haired cadet suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, Adeus," Zack agreed with a small grin as he began to make his way back down to the 65th floor door. "Let's go look around and see what we can find."

Don't go wandering off on your own, Zack," Angeal warned as he and the two cadets managed to catch up to the young SOLDIER.

A few seconds later, they had made it back to the 65th floor door they had passed a minute ago. Zack, who had arrived first, placed his hand on the handle. Before turning it, he checked to see if his mentor and the cadets were ready for whatever it was that might come at them.

With a quick nod from all of them, he swung open the door and immediately shot out into the hallway, quickly arming himself with his sword. The other three followed suit; Angeal took the thin sword that rested right on top of his thicker one and the cadets took their guns from their holsters.

"Looks like everything's as good as it can be here," Cloud said as he scanned the seemingly empty room.

"I guess you're right; that is, if you count the blood smear over in that room there normal," Zack answered as he pointed to an area a few yards away from where they were standing.

Turning around to see what his best friend was talking about, the blond shifted his gaze towards the supposed blood smear. Sure enough, there was one. It was located in a room that seemed to be surrounded by glass, making it easy to see whatever it was that was inside.

"What is this place?" Adeus inquired as he, too, looked at the bright red mess. "It looks a lot like some kind of gym or something."

And he was right about that. Apart from the blood, there was also quite a bit of what seemed to be exercise equipment lying around in the room. There were black treadmills, weight benches, exercise mats, and a whole bunch of other stuff that one would associate with exercising. Some of the equipment was also stained with the crimson liquid, along with a few corpses laying on some of them and a zombie roaming around in the room.

"It's also a place where death has been visited upon," Angeal stated bluntly. "We must hurry and try to find something on this floor that'll help us get to the upper floors. The fact that we're seeing a couple of dead people in that room and a moving zombie gives the possibility of there being more in here; all of them just waiting to attack us at any moment."

Without waiting for a reply, the older SOLDIER began to lead the way. Zack followed right behind him with Cloud and Adeus bringing up the rear.

As they neared the exercise room, they noticed that it was somewhat situated in the middle of the floor. Because the walls were made of see-through glass, the group was able to see beyond the room, allowing them to see whatever might be in their immediate path. Of course, that meant that they were also able to see the bloody mess that was inside the room itself. They also saw a couple more corpses attempting to lift themselves off of the equipment they were leaning on; thus, effectively becoming zombies.

They continued to follow Angeal as he turned towards the right at a two-way intersection. Looking at a small sign that was taped onto the wall, they saw the words "Locker Room" written on it along with an arrow pointing towards the right.

"You thinking of going to the locker room, Angeal?" Zack asked as he started to walk right beside him.

"There might be a ladder or something to that effect that we can use in there. People do tend to leave things like that in locker rooms."

Let's just hope, then, that we're lucky and find something in there," Adeus replied as he gave another cough that nearly caused him to spit out the half melted cough drop from his mouth. "I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Same here, Adeus," Cloud agreed as he constantly twisted his head this way and that. "I really don't want to be here any longer than we have to. I hate it when floors like this one are so unnaturally quiet. It's almost as if something's watching us, waiting for us to make just one wrong move before pouncing on us."

"Try not to worry too much about it, Cloud," the older SOLDIER said in a reassuring tone. "It's best to just focus your mind on the task at hand. Anyway, here we are; the locker rooms."

With a quick point of his hand, the man directed the cadets' attention to the door they were now standing in front of. "Locker Room" was printed onto a plaque that hung on a small nail nailed into the door. They had managed to make it all the way here with no incidents.

However, just as Angeal was about to open the door, a sound came from inside the room, causing everybody to jump a bit, including Angeal himself.

"Sounds like someone or something's in there," Zack whispered so as to not make whatever was inside know that they were just outside the room. "What do we do here?"

"Hmm," the man sighed as he quickly contemplated what their next course of action was going to be. After a couple of seconds, he said, "We'll quietly slip in, see who or what's in there, and see if everything's fine. There's a chance there's someone hiding out in there."

"Alright, we'll go in on my count," the young SOLDIER replied as he placed his hand on the handle. "You guys ready for this?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Cloud answered as Adeus simply cocked his gun, the sound of the firearm being readied being his answer.

"Then we'll go in on three," the teen said as he saw his mentor give him a small nod. "Get ready. One…, two…, three!"

With that, he quickly, yet silently, opened the door and made his way inside, the other three following close behind. Once they were all inside, he shut the door so as to not let anything unexpected come in on them while they were busy looking for whatever made the noise they heard earlier.

Wordlessly, Angeal directed everybody on where to move inside the locker room. He motioned for Cloud and Zack to search the left side of the room while he and Adeus searched the right. They were to meet up at the back after eyeballing all of the rows that stood in between the lockers.

As they moved their plan into action, they all kept their ears open for any signs of suspicious noise besides their own footsteps and breathing. All was quiet, though, and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. No bodies; no blood; nothing to indicate that something bad had happened in here.

However, just as they were about to regroup at the back of the room, all four of them heard a soft sound coming from one of the lockers. Now on high alert, the four of them quietly made their way towards the locker they heard the noise coming from. With his sword gripped in one hand, Angeal placed a firm grip on the handle of the locker. In one fluid motion, he swung the door opened and immediately placed the flat of his blade along the side of the locker, effectively preventing whatever was inside from coming out for the time being.

"D-don't hurt me!" a frightened male voice stuttered from inside the locker. I-I-I'm just a-a executive here!"

Upon hearing a person's voice, the older SOLDIER immediately withdrew his blade and the person that was inside came stumbling out soon after. Once they were able to see who the person was, they saw that he had on a Shinra standard suit and tie, thus showing that he was indeed an executive worker. He was a skinny man and had a couple strands of gray hair popping up on certain spots of his head. His face was plastered with fear as his head was twitching from one person to the next, seemingly trying to figure out if the people who found him were all human or not.

"Don't worry, sir," Zack calmed the badly stuttering man as best as he could. "You're alright. We're SOLDIER members. You'll be safe now."

"Y-you don't understand!" the man blurted out in a frightened panic. "There's something lurking around in this building! It's trying to kill everything!"

"We know, sir," Angeal replied calmly in an attempt to calm the panicked man. "We know about the monsters that are roaming loose within the building. We're trying to find a way to solve that problem."

"B-b-b-but…!" the man continued to stutter, obviously not hearing a word they were saying and too far down the road of hysterics to have a coherent mindset. "The monsters…! Blades for arms…! They were killing everybody!"

"C-calm down, sir!" Adeus said as he was taken aback by the man's borderline hysteric voice. "You're in good hands now. We're going to…"

"We're doomed!!!" the executive yelled out so loudly that everybody had to cover their ears from the shrillness. "There's no hope for any of us! We're all going to die here! Ahh!!!"

And with that, the man quickly slipped between Zack and Cloud and made his way towards the door. All the while, the four of them just stood in shock at what they had just seen and heard.

However, that shock was short-lived, though, as they heard another scream emanating from the man that had just ran out on them. This time, it was one of extreme pain and anguish.

Acting instinctively, the group quickly ran towards the doorway in an attempt to help the man. Unfortunately, they were already too late. Once they reached the door, they saw a very horrific scene. Zombies had managed to gather around the open doorway and were bent down over something. From where they had come from, none of them knew. They could only guess that they had been hiding somewhere out of their initial view and were lured here by the previous man's hysterics. It was then the four had noticed something strange within the zombie crowd.

Upon getting a closer look, they saw a flailing limb amongst the immense group waving around as if it were trying to grab onto something. It was donned in the same material as the executive they had met earlier was wearing. It then suddenly went limp as one of the zombies quickly took a big chunk out of it, thus bringing a small gurgling sound to emit from the owner of said limb.

Wh-wh-what in the…?!" Cloud stuttered in complete shock as he and the others could only stare at the scene that was unfurling before them. "Is that…? Are they…?! Oh, good Gaia!"

Upon this exclamation, a few of the zombies that were trying to get in a bite immediately brought their full attention at the group that had been staring at them. After seemingly hesitating for a moment, they, along with a few others, began to limp lazily towards them, a hungry look flashing in their dull dead eyes.

"Get your act together, everyone!" Angeal shouted, thus effectively snapping everybody out of their trance. "They're heading right for us!"

Without wasting a single second, the blond shot the oncoming zombies the angriest and dirtiest look he could muster before letting a bullet propel out of the gun in his hand, the projectile embedding itself into the skull of one of them with a dull thud following the sharp cracking sound of the dispelled bullet. Adeus soon followed suit and fired off his own gun at one that was closing in on Zack, who was busy drawing out his sword and was about to be bitten on his shoulder, and effectively managed to stop it in its tracks for a couple of moments.

"Thanks, Adeus!" Zack thanked the cadet as he swung his sword at the same zombie, thus bringing it down with a big slash connecting from the neck to the lower chest.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed, Zack?" his mentor asked calmly despite the dire situation they were in as he slashed at another zombie aiming for the young teen SOLDIER. "Keep your attention on the battle only. Cloud and Adeus, look for a ladder while we take care of these things."

"Y-yes, sir!" the pair replied as they hastily followed the orders given to them, too shock to say or do much else.

For the next couple of minutes, the two groups were busy doing whatever it was that they were doing. The two cadets searched the entire room for any signs of a ladder or something at could be used to ascend while the two SOLDIERs took care of the horde of zombies that were still trying to break through. Eventually, both groups finished their tasks; the cadets found a ladder in one of the lockers before the SOLDIERs finished taking care of the swarm.

"We found a ladder, guys!" Cloud announced as he followed Adeus back towards the entrance.

"Good!" Zack replied as he skewered one of the few remaining zombies in the gut and then performed a slashing move towards the one next to it, causing the nearest one to be split into two and the impaled one to be half-cut. "Just hold on for a moment while we take out the rest of these things!"

"There's no need for waiting," Angeal replied as he slashed at the last one and the problem was over with. "Everything's taken care of now. Let's hurry up and leave before more of these things decide to swarm us again."

"Good idea," Adeus agreed before bringing his gun in front of him and shot at something in the older SOLDIER's general direction."

Wordlessly, he turned around to see what the cadet was shooting at. At first, he saw nothing; however, the sound of a body softly hitting the ground reached his ears and he looked down. That was when he saw one of the fallen zombies with its arm outstretched in an attempt to grab onto his leg. Fortunately, there was now a bullet in its head and it was not going to be getting up anytime soon.

"You missed one, sir," the long haired cadet simply replied with a smile as he relaxed his arm.

"So I noticed," Angeal answered in the same fashion. "Thank you for that, Adeus."

"I wish we could have done the same for this poor guy, though," Zack said in a regrettable tone as he looked at the now half-chewed corpse that was lying just outside of the doorway. "He was practically near insanity when we found him. It's sad that he had to die by the very things that caused him to become so unreachable."

"D-did we really just see that guy get chewed to death?" the blond asked, still in shock at what happened and gripping the ladder so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Don't tell us that you're starting to become all panicky on us again," the young SOLIDER said with a small sigh. "Now's really not the time for that."

"I'm not. I'm just…really shocked, is all. I mean, I've never seen a horde that big before and I definitely never saw them eating someone to death before."

"I'm sure that was a first for all of us, Cloud," Adeus replied with a somewhat shaky breath. "In that case, I think now would be a good time to get back on track before more of those things pop up and try to trap us again."

"Adeus is right," the older SOLDIER agreed as he quickly went into the hallway, being careful not to step on the bloody, half-eaten corpse of the once hysteric executive worker, and made sure that the coast was clear. "It's best we keep moving lest we want another repeat of the last few minutes. I'll go on ahead to the stairwell and make sure that the path is clear. Zack, I want you to accompany Cloud and Adeus there in case the unexpected happens. Everyone clear on what to do?"

"Yes, sir!" all three of them answered with a small salute.

"Good. You all wait here for a few seconds before following me. See you all in a few minutes."

With a quick nod of his head, Angeal went on ahead to clear the path of any potential threats that were waiting for them along the way. The three teens did as they were instructed and waited for a few seconds before making their move.

"Try not to fall behind while lugging that ladder with you, Cloud," Zack warned the blond as he was about to jump out into the hallway.

"Don't worry, I won't," he replied confidently. "You just make sure that nothing tries to get near me."

"If there's anything left_ to_ get near you after Angeal's initial sweep," Adeus added.

"Then we best take the opportunity to leave now while things are good," the spiky raven haired teen said as he entered the hallway and motioned for the two cadets to do the same. "Let's go, you two!"

That was when they began to make their way to the staircase; Zack leading the group while Cloud lugged the ladder with help from Adeus, who was making sure that it did not hit any of the walls and cause the blond to recoil and fall from the sudden jerk. Except for the occasional dead body that had not been there when they first took the path, nothing threatening was within arms reach. Angeal had already taken care of the minor threats and was probably waiting for them at the stairs.

"Looks like it's going to be a very smooth road ahead of us, thanks to Angeal," Zack speculated with a smile as they neared the stairwell door. "Come on guys, we're almost there."

A few seconds later, the trio made it to their destination. After making sure that the surrounding area was clear of any zombies and, more importantly, killer monsters, the young SOLDIER quickly opened the door and allowed the two cadets to carry the ladder inside first before entering himself. With the door closed behind him and giving off a satisfying click, he sighed in relief.

"God, I just can't wait for all this to be over with," he murmured under his breath, too softly for anyone to hear as he followed the two cadets up the stairs to where the broken portion was. "I don't know about those three, but I've had enough of this zombie-monster business and near-death scenarios to last me a lifetime. I can only hope that things will start to go more smoothly from here on out. Then again, what are the chances of that happening in here?"


	14. A Brief Mental Reprieve

**Chapter 13: A Brief Mental Reprieve**

"Now we can continue on our way up these stairs," Angeal said as he saw the other three approached him, the ladder firmly in Cloud and Adeus's hands while Zack was being cautious and making sure that nothing managed to follow them in. "We wasted too much time in trying to find a ladder."

"At least we now know that those zombies are practically everywhere," Zack stated as he joined the rest of the group. "Heck, they could be on every other floor in this place, for all we know; just waiting for us to let our guard down for even just a moment before they attack us."

"I still can't believe that that bunch from earlier just suddenly appeared at the doorway," Cloud replied with a shudder as he handed the front portion of the ladder to the older SOLDIER. "It was as though they were trying to wait for us to go into the locker room before trying to sneak-attack us."

"They were pretty quiet the whole time," Adeus noticed as he thought back to the attack. "It seems like they're able to move pretty stealthily. Now that I think about it, the same thing happened to you, me, and Zack while we were in the elevator leading us to Director Lazard's office. We didn't even hear those two zombies coming until they just suddenly appeared right in the doorway."

"All the more reason for all of us to be careful then," the older SOLDIER said as he began to set up the ladder so that they would be able to climb up to the next floor and continue on with their mission. "If we allow even just one moment for our minds to lapse, then that's all it'll take for us to be surrounded and possibly overwhelmed by those things. Make sure to keep your guards up at all times, you three. I'm sure that you all already knew that by now, though," he added humorously in an attempt to lighten the mood around him.

It seemed to work well; the entire mood around the group seemed to lighten up a bit for a little while with that little tension-breaker. The air was not as tense as it had been since they climbed back down the stairs just to search for a ladder. It was a bit more relaxed; enough so that it was able to entice a small smile to grace themselves onto the cadets' lips, yet not so much that they were so relaxed and allowed themselves to not be aware of their surroundings.

Zack, though, was an exception to the effects of the tension-breaker. His generally happy and positive attitude and boundless energy basically allowed him to smile under any circumstance, regardless if the occasion called for it or not. It was with this very attitude that he was sporting a big and somewhat childish half-grin, making it look more cockier than it was meant to be.

"Are we ready to go yet?" Zack asked in a childish tone that easily matched his smile and at the same time, reflected his impatience and restlessness.

"Ever the restless pup, even in the eyes of danger itself, aren't you Zack?" Angeal sighed as he made the last adjustments to the ladder before stepping back a few paces to get a better look at it. "Anyway, I'm done setting the darn thing up. Luckily for us, it looks like its just tall enough to reach the next set of stairs. I'll go on ahead and make sure that nothing…surprising is waiting for us up there."

"Yeah, you go do that," the young SOLDIER replied with a grin. "I'll send the two cadets up after you once you reach the top. I'm sure it doesn't take more than a second with you to make sure everything's okay up there."

"Uh, don't you think that you're exaggerating just a little bit?" Cloud asked with a skeptical, yet amused, look on his face as the older man carefully climbed up to the higher set of stairs and disappeared from their view.

"Absolutely not, Cloud. I know Angeal better than the two of you combined together. If he's going first just to access the situation, then it'll be safe for us to go the second he gets there."

"You sure have a lot of confidence in him, don't you Zack?" Adeus asked with a smirk. "Are you sure you're not saying that just because he's your favorite mentor or something like that?"

"Someone needs to make himself acquainted with his public SOLDIER record when they have the chance after all this hectic business is over," Zack countered in a playful tone as he wagged his finger at the long haired cadet in the same playful manner, causing said cadet to pout a bit at the action. "Anyway, why don't one of you go on and make your way up the ladder now? I'm sure that he's done making sure that everything's safe up there."

"And why are you asking us to climb this darn thing up to the next floor first?" the blond asked with a raised eyebrow as Adeus stepped in front of the ladder. "Why aren't you going up there yourself before us?"

"Because I need to make sure that nothing is trying to get to you guys down here," Zack answered bluntly. "I mean, I am the only other SOLDIER down here who could possibly take care of any unexpected visits from the monsters roaming around in here. Unless you're volunteering to take over the short thirty second watch for me, then I'll be more than happy to take you up on that offer."

"Uh, th-that's not what I was trying to say!" the teen replied quickly as he watched the long haired cadet climb up to the next floor. "You…can just go ahead and do that part. I'll be more than happy to climb up first."

"That's what I thought you'd be saying," the young SOLDIER said in a knowing voice as he lightly scratched his nose.

"I figured you were going to answer like that, Zack," Adeus answered with a small sigh as he began to climb up to the next floor. "If I get swamped by monsters the moment I reach the top of this thing, though, I'm coming back down to personally kill you, alright?"

"Jeez, there's no need to go threatening me over something that I have no control over of, Adeus. Besides, you know that if there were any zombies up there, Angeal would've already shouted down at us about it. He would have then taken care of the problem before having you climb up to the next floor. Anyway, you just make sure that you don't lose your footing and end up falling off that ladder towards your doom. A fall from that height can easily result in a snapped neck, especially if you go hitting the ground head-first."

"Wow, that just makes me feel a whole lot better, you know?" the long haired cadet sarcastically replied just as he reached the top and managed to situate himself safely onto the next floor. "Well, everything looks fine up here. A few dented spots and gashes in the metal here and there, but nothing so terribly damaged that it would be impossible for us to go any further. Anyway, I just saw Angeal go on ahead up the stairs. I'm guessing he's going to see if the path is safe and nothing is going to stop us like this big gap here did earlier."

"Good, then it's your turn to get up there, Cloud. Make sure you hurry up so I can quickly climb up after you."

"Don't rush me, Zack," Cloud sighed as he set his arms along the metal sides and began to climb up. "Wasn't it you who said that we should be careful not to fall off so we don't end up breaking our necks?"

"Oh, you'll be okay. I've seen you take such a beating during sparring training and you never complain about it. I'm surprised that you haven't suffered a broken bone yet from all those hits you've taken. You really are something special as a cadet, you know that?"

"Uh, thanks I guess," the blond answered as he was just about to reach the top. "You know that it's kind of hard to tell whether or not you're trying to compliment us sometimes. It's like you sometimes sound all serious and stuff, then you suddenly go into complimentary mode. It's actually kind of weird, to be honest."

"And yet you're still my very best friend!" Zack replied in an overly happy tone. "Just admit it; even if you were able to change me around, you wouldn't want me any other way than this. I know I wouldn't."

"Whatever, you self-centered jerk," the cadet answered back in a playful tone as he secured his footing on the solid metal ground. "Anyway, it's your turn now to risk breaking your neck just to get up here."

"Coming right up!" the young SOLDIER stated enthusiastically as he quickly placed his sword securely onto his back and began to climb up the ladder himself. Despite the warnings he gave to his cadets, he climbed up the darn thing quicker than they did. Apparently, he only said it to patronize the two of them and both he and the two of them knew this.

In less than five seconds, he had managed to climb up and set his feet firmly onto the new set of stairs. With a triumphant childish smile, he lifted both of his hands in the air in a victory pose. Cloud, who was waiting right next to Adeus, who took to leaning against an unbroken part of the metal wall, simply stared at their mentor with a look of indifference.

"He's as childish as the first day we met him," the long haired cadet sighed as he straightened himself off of the wall.

"Heh, you can say that again," the blond agreed as he began to walk up the new set of stairs that had some damage done to it; just as Adeus had described to them just a couple of minutes ago. "Then again, that very attitude is the one thing that makes him who he is. It's how he acts that makes me feel like I've known him for more than the few months we've been training together."

"That's exactly the same way I feel about the guy," the other cadet replied as he followed Cloud up the stairs with a smile planted on his face. "That and how he really reminds me of a cute little puppy."

"Oh, I forgot all about that," the blond said with a big smile now donning his face. "Do you really think that he'd make a cute puppy?"

"Uh, you guys know that I'm still here, right?" Zack called out to the ascending forms of his two cadets in slight annoyance with a pout of the same caliber plastered on his face. "I can hear every word you were saying about me."

"Oh, really?" Cloud simply said without looking back or stopping. "I thought you already left or were just not paying attention to us. My bad."

"You didn't have to add sarcasm to it, Cloud," the young SOLDIER added with a small inaudible growl as he proceeded to catch up with the group.

"Aw, but I wanted to. It makes it a lot more fun to mess around with you now that you have your guard down."

"Hey, why didn't I think of doing that earlier?" Adeus half exclaimed in realization, the subtlest hint of sarcasm barely noticeable mixed into his tone. "Thanks for teaching me how to get under his skin. Now I know how to pay him back for all those times he's gotten under mine."

"Hey, you know that torturing a member of SOLDIER is prohibited, right?" Zack shot back at the pair in a mock-hurt tone.

"We know," the blond answered as he stopped for a moment near the 66th floor door, which looked terribly beat up and did not seem like it was going to open any time soon. "But we're not trying to torture you. We're just trying to find ways to drive you nuts like you do to us."

Being who he was, Zack opened his mouth to come up with a comeback remark. However, he was cut off by a deep familiar voice coming from further up the stairs.

"I would suggest that you three hurry up and get up here," Angeal called from the side of the stairs. "As much as I enjoy seeing you three play around, now's not the time for it. Don't forget that we still have a mission to do here. You can continue with this after we've finished with this mission."

"Oh, alright," the younger SOLDIER shouted back up at the older man. "You don't have to go sounding all fatherly-like on us, Angeal. We're not little kids that need to be told what to do, you know?"

"Really? I didn't notice," the man answered back with a small chuckle at the slightly shocked facial response he was given by the three teens. "By the way you were bickering, I thought that you were all no older than twelve."

"Anyway, please hurry up and get up here," he continued on as he suddenly changed his demeanor. "The sooner we find Professor Hojo and get him to safety, the sooner we'll be able to rest easy tonight."

"Okay, we'll be right up!" Cloud responded as the trio saw the older SOLDIER's head disappear from their view. "Wow, I did not expect him to say something like that."

"Me neither," Adeus agreed as they started to climb up the stairs again. "I didn't think that he would have actually crack a joke on us."

"Heh, that was just one of his rare moments," Zack explained as he gave off a small smile. "He's not really the type to joke around a lot. Consider yourselves lucky that you two were able to see that side of him. Chances are that you'll never get to see something like that again."

"We'll keep that in mind, Zack," the blond replied as they were at the halfway mark between the 66th and 67th floor where Angeal was patiently waiting for them.

* * *

Hello everybody. Hope you enjoy this new chapter. It's a small change of pace from the story. I just felt that it was time to have a relaxing chapter instead of another stress-filled one. The poor guys need to have a break, even though it is really only for a few short minutes before they jump into the action again. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and liked the childish side that I attempted to bring out in all the characters. Please review and thanks again for reading!


	15. A Turn for the Worse

**Chapter 14: A Turn for the Worse**

"It's about time you three came up here and joined me," Angeal said to the trio in a slightly teasing tone as they made it to his position next to the 67th floor door. "I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to go in and save the professor all on my own."

"Sorry about that, sir," Adeus replied in an apologetic tone, the cough drop that was in his mouth now completely melted and his cough now somewhat soothed, leaving only a slightly itchy throat as a reminder. "We just got a bit caught up in our conversation earlier that we kind of forgotten about where we were."

"That and we were busy trying to find some fun and creative ways to get back at Zack for all those times he drove us nuts within the past few months of him training us," Cloud added with a smile and small chuckle. "I dare say that the two of us did a pretty good job at that, too."

"I can see that," the older SOLDIER answered as he saw Zack give off a small roll of his eyes in annoyance at the pair.

"Don't let that get to your heads, you two," the young SOLDIER teen said with a pout. "You only caught me when I wasn't paying attention there for a moment and went all-out on me."

"Which is pretty much how you manage to drive us crazy," the long haired cadet answered back. "I suppose then that that would make us all even. Then again, maybe not. You've already drove the two of us nuts for Gaia knows how many times for the few months we've known each other."

"And I intend to keep it that way," Zack stated with a playful defiant gaze as he shifted his eyes between the two cadets. "It wouldn't look good for me if I let myself get embarrassed by the two of you in front of the others when I'm the one who's supposed to be doing that to you and Cloud."

"Alright you two, that's enough," Angeal calmly butted in as he broke up the little argument he knew to be only simple teasing. "I believe that it's time we started to regain our seriousness here. We're about to enter new floor and, therefore, a new territory. We don't know what lies beyond this door, so we're going to have to really concentrate and pay attention to our surroundings. I don't want us to be taken by surprise by whatever might be waiting for us in there, alright?"

"Yes, sir!" the trio acknowledged with a small salute.

"Good. Then let's get going, you three. Try to stay together and don't fool around. And I'm speaking to all of you here, not just Zack."

Without wasting any time, and ignoring the look he got from the young SOLDIER, the older SOLDIER quickly gripped the handle to the door that led to the 67th floor and opened it in one fluid motion. Just as he did that, though, a loud noise was heard coming from the door below them. Zack, who was the one nearest the railing, volunteered silently to peer over it and see what was going on. Once he managed to get a good look at what had caused the loud noise, he was surprised at what he saw. There, standing on top of the rubble that had once blocked access to the 66th floor door, was another monster, its head looking back and forth as if it were looking for something. Thankfully, it refused to bring its gaze upwards for the young SOLDIER was still staring down at it. A moment later though, he regained his composure and brought his head back from the side; being careful not to make any loud noises to alert the creature of their presence just one story above it.

"Uh, I think we have company, guys!" he half-whimpered, half-whispered as he quickly and quietly got himself away from the railing and motioned for the two cadets to go through the open door. "One of those monsters just busted their way in here! It's right on the floor below us!"

The older SOLDIER simply sighed at this revelation, not taken aback by the news of a monster appearing right underneath them. "Another one of those abominations, huh?" he said as he shook his head. "These things truly are everywhere. Anyway, let's hurry up and get in before it knows were up here. I don't want to end up fighting them unless it's absolutely necessary. I've had the privilege of seeing how they fight and I'm not looking forward to their style."

He quickly ushered both Cloud and Adeus through the open door and into the 67th floor right after he made a very quick check of the surrounding area. Zack soon followed suit before Angeal himself entered the hallway. He then quietly closed the door so as to not attract any unwanted attention from the monster. With the soft satisfying sound of the door closing that was barely even audible to even the two SOLDIERs' enhanced hearing, the group breathed out a sigh of relief. They had managed to get out of there before the monster even knew they were there.

"Great, now we have to worry about that monster back there breaking down this door and hunting us down along with trying to find the crazy scientist that's still in here doing only Gaia knows what while all hell breaks loose around him!" Cloud sighed in a frustrated semi-whisper as he scratched the back of his head in same frustrated manner. "Gaia, I'll be really happy once we've out of here with the professor and breathing the fresh scent of safety! All these stupid monsters deciding to just randomly appear wherever and whenever they want to is really starting to grow old and tiring. It's not really that scary anymore. Now, it's just plain annoying."

"Oh, you can say that again, Cloud," Zack agreed with the young blond as he took his sword off from his back and prepared it for battle. "It's almost like I'm starting to expect these creepy killer monsters to pop out at us at any moment now, yet at the same time, I don't know when and where they're going to attack us from next. I think I've officially become paranoid in this building."

"Either that or you finally learned how to keep your mind focused solely on your surroundings at all times while in a battlefield," Angeal suggested as he, too, took his slim sword from his back, being careful not to mess up the placement of his own Buster Sword that was still attached to him. "It sounds as if this place managed to provide you with some practice on that; something that I have been trying to drill into your puppy-dog head for the past couple of years now ever since you first started training under me as a SOLDIER hopeful."

"Actually, I really think that it has to do more with paranoia than with actual training," the young SOLDIER replied. "I know I'm still not that attentive to my surroundings; I'm just more attentive to the monsters because I don't want toe end up being bitten, slashed, or surrounded by them."

"That's not something that you should really be admitting to, Zack," the blond stated with a shake of his head. "It really doesn't make you look good in front of others. You're lucky that I know you; otherwise, I might think that you were a person who could easily get himself hurt out in the battlefield."

"Well, thanks for your vote of confidence there, Cloud," the spiky raven haired teen replied sarcastically with a sulking head. "It's nice to know that I have someone to rely on for his terrible opinion of me."

"Oh, it wasn't terrible at all. It was mainly the truth. I mean, I'm sure that even you would have to admit to that."

"But I don't want to admit to that; especially when it's not even true to begin with."

"Alright, that's enough, you two," the older SOLDIER butted in. "I thought I said earlier that it was time we got serious here. We don't have time to be acting childish and letting our guard down. We don't even know what's lurking on this floor, to begin with, nor if Professor Hojo is even on this floor."

"We're not being childish," Zack stated plainly in a whining tone. "We're just trying to clear some things up between us."

"Well, then clear up whatever it is you need to clear up once we're done with all this," Angeal countered, his tone indicating his loss of patience. "Now is the time for all of us to be concentrating. Don't forget that this is the science floor. There are quite a few places where the professor could be at. He could also be up on the 68th floor, the second portion of the science area. If we don't hurry and find him, then the monsters might beat us to him."

Just as the younger SOLDIER was about to make another remark at his mentor, he was cut off by a strained gagging sound. The sound greatly resembled that of someone not feeling well and ready to throw up; a small moan of sickness was soon accompanied by the clear sound of retching. Actually, dry heaving seemed to be the more appropriate term for when the sound occurred, no splattering noise of someone's guts hitting the metal floor came right after the sick noise.

"What the…?" Zack wondered out loud as he tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. "Who the heck is that getting sick around here at a time like this? Definitely not the greatest time nor place for that to be happening."

"I am," a soft voice answered from behind with a slow and sickish groan. "And sorry, but I can't help it."

Upon hearing the sick voice, Angeal, Cloud, and he turned to look at Adeus. When they saw him, they noticed that he was hunched over a wall, his hand on the cold metal in an attempt to stabilize his shaking body; his sword slightly shivering along with his body.

"H-hey Adeus, are you alright?" the blond asked, already fully knowing what the answer was going to be.

"I…I don't know," the cadet whispered weakly replied while barely lifting his head up to look at Cloud. "Th-this just…started happening all of a sudden."

"Let me have a look at you," Angeal half-suggested, half-commanded as he quickly brought his hand onto Adeus's forehead to check his temperature. "Let me see if you're catching something."

Not even a second after placing his hand on the cadet's head, he quickly pulled it back to his side; he did so out of surprise. The poor cadet was literally burning up! It was like his hand just touched the side of a bowl that was just filled with hot soup. It was surprising that he was not even sweating bullets by now.

"H-how can this be?!" the older SOLDIER exclaimed as he gave off a look of total concern and disbelief. "You're running a very high fever! Have you been sick all this time and just held it back until it ended up this bad?"

"I-I swear, I…wasn't sick at all!" Adeus exclaimed as a shudder ran through his body. "I was…fine before the meeting! Hell, I was… I was okay after we got to Director Lazard! I don't know how…! I don't know!"

He could not say anymore because he was forced into another dry heave. It was such a sickening sound and it echoed throughout the hallway they were in. They were all damn lucky that whatever that might be on this floor did not hear all this noise. That was the least of their concerns at this point, though. The group now had to try and take care of an ill Adeus while trying to find and evacuate Professor Hojo at the same time. Their job just got a hundred times more harder thanks to this.

Once he was done with his spasms, the cadet slowly rested his head on his arm that was pressed against the cool metal wall. His skin was so hot; he was able to feel the coolness radiating from the metal and cool him ever so slightly.

"What are we going to do now, Angeal?" Zack asked as he looked at his cadet in concern while rubbing his back at the same time. "We got to hurry and find Adeus some help here. He really doesn't seem to be in the best of shape right now."

"I know that, Zackary!" Angeal exclaimed while using the SOLDIER teen's full name, a thing he only did when he was either really concerned, frustrated, or both. "I know we need to get him to a doctor, but we can't get him out of here. The elevators up here are destroyed and there's now a monster lurking in the stairwell. We can't get down from here. Let's not forget that we're supposed to also find the professor before any of us leave here. Even though I want to abandon this mission and try to find Adeus some help, I can't do it for more than one reason!"

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do then?!" the young SOLDIER nearly shouted out of panic. "My cadet-slash-best buddy is really sick here and is probably getting even worse by the minute! Are you just expecting me to sit on my tail while he's suffering here?"

"Of course that's not what I'm suggesting," the older SOLDIER answered in a somewhat calmer tone from before. "Think about it for just a moment, though. In our current position, we just can't do a thing about this. We'll just have to keep going forward with the mission and contact Tseng that we need help getting out of here. That's the best we can do now. If we have to, we'll carry Adeus around with us. We're not going to just leave him behind."

"But he needs help now!" Zack insisted as he pointed at the sick cadet in an almost desperate fashion. "Who knows what might happen to him in the next hour or so?! He might end up becoming unconscious or worse! We don't have time to be looking for Professor Hojo now!"

"Wait a minute!" Cloud, who has been quiet this whole time and was trying to make sure Adeus was steady on his feet, interrupted in a tone that suggested that he figured something out. "Maybe we can have the professor himself help Adeus out. He's a scientist, so I'm sure he at least knows something about illnesses and what he might be suffering from. I know that it's a long shot, but he is a scientist. It's possible that he at least knows something about his unexpected fever!"

For a moment, all of them were quiet, except for the occasional muffled moans coming from Adeus. They were all thinking about what Cloud had said. He was right; Professor Hojo was the only person that they could possibly go to for help without having to try and find a way out of here or abandoning the mission altogether.

"You're right, Cloud," Angeal finally acknowledged as he walked over to the cadets. "The professor is the only one who is in a position to help us at this point. We're going to have to hurry, though, if we want to find him before Adeus's condition gets any more worse than it already is."

"Fine, we'll go to him for help," Zack agreed rather reluctantly as he saw his mentor pick the sick cadet up and had him wrap his arms and legs around him, therefore having him ride on his back piggy-back style. Amazingly, Angeal was able to balance him with one hand while holding onto his secondary sword with his other. "I don't like the idea of getting help from that creepy guy, but we don't have a choice here. We have to hurry and find the guy first before he can be of any help to us."

"Then where should we start looking for Professor Hojo first?" the blond asked as the older SOLDIER began to lead the way. "Where are some places that he could be hiding out at?"

"Knowing him, he'd either be at his office or on the 67th or 68th floor lab," the mentor told him as he began to walk quickly, but cautiously, down the hall. "There's no other place he'd be at, even at a time like this. I just hope that there aren't any monsters here that will impede our progress. That's something that we really don't need right now."

With that said, the group traveled down the hallway in search of Professor Hojo. They moved quickly, so as to get Adeus the help he needed faster, but cautiously, so they did not run right into a monster or an entire swarm of zombies that might have been wandering around on this floor. They all stayed quiet for the whole of their search, silently concentrating on finding the professor.


	16. A Shocking Revelation

**Chapter 15: A Shocking Revelation**

For a few short seconds, the group traveled down the halls as Angeal led the way down the somewhat confusing paths with Adeus planted firmly on his back. They were silent and kept their attention at their surroundings as they continued to walk soundlessly down the halls. They would occasionally run into a body or two lying around on the floor, but they were already taken care of; their torsos sporting a great slash from the head on down to the legs on some of them.

"It looks like he came through here," the older SOLDIER whispered more to himself than to the others as he led the group past more bodies.

"Who are you talking about, sir?" Cloud asked with a raised eyebrow as he opened Zack's shoulder pack and took an ammo clip from inside it.

"Sephiroth," Zack answered as he felt the added weight on his back momentarily before it disappeared. "Only he can strike down monsters in this fashion with such great precision and with only one swing of his sword."

"A very tell-tale sign that he's already been through here before us," Angeal added as he relaxed his sword arm. "I suppose it could be considered a lucky break for us at this point. What I want to know is why he's even up here?"

"I don't know about that," the younger SOLDIER answered with a shrug. "I'm sure, though, that he wasn't called up here by the Turks. Tseng would've told me about him being here when he first assigned me the mission."

"Do you suppose he knew that the professor was up here and went ahead of us to get him out of here?" the blond suggested.

"Then wouldn't he…have at least called Angeal or…Zack about it?" Adeus whispered in a tone that was barely heard by the three. "Don't forget that…they couldn't reach him on his phone either…when they tried earlier."

"Try not to talk too much, Adeus," Zack instructed the sick cadet. "You're right now receiving the brunt force of this sudden sickness, and you need to save your strength for when you really need to use it. I don't want you to end up fainting on us because you've exhausted yourself by talking to us."

"Yes, you should rest while you have the chance," Angeal agreed with the young SOLIDER. "Try not to use too much of your energy talking right now. We need you to try and stay awake so it'll be easier for us to help you in case things get even worse. That and there'd be a lesser chance of you dying on us while you're out cold and us not even knowing about it until much later.

"You are right about Sephiroth normally calling me before doing something like that, though," he continued on as he readjusted his grip on the cadet. "He would have at least called me on my cell before going ahead and doing something like this at such a dangerous time. Then again, he always did have a tendency to do things like this his own way without letting anybody know about it. But that can't be the case this time around. Even though he does that sometimes, he would never act like that at such a crucial life-or-death situation such as this. It's because of the fact that I know him well and he's not doing what he normally does that I can't help but to feel bothered by all this."

"Well, we're not going to figure anything out just by talking about it," Cloud stated as he installed the fresh clip into his ammo chamber and allowed the old one to simply fall to the floor with a loud clang. "Let's hurry up and get to the labs so we can see if Professor Hojo really is in there."

"Alright then. Follow me, you two."

For the next couple of minutes, they traveled down the hallway in a quiet fashion. As they kept on going, they did not run into anything. They did, however, pass by a few zombies every now and then, all of them either lying flat on the floor or slouching on the wall with one deep and deadly slash marking its cause of death. They simply walked passed them with nothing more than a glance at their way and were relieved that they were not going to be getting up anytime soon and flanking them with a surprise group attack like a few minutes ago in the 65th floor locker rooms.

They also did not bother to check any of the rooms that they passed by. They simply walked right on by and did not bother to see if there was any signs of human life behind them. Besides, if there really were some people behind those doors, then one of the SOLDIERs would have easily heard some small noise thanks to their enhanced hearing and went barging in without any second thoughts.

The only exception to this was when they approached one particular door. As they approached it the fresh-looking painted words, "Head of Science Department's Office" were seen written in bold, yellow letters. As they passed by this door, Angeal simply motioned to it by pointing his sword at its general direction, and Zack quickly took the hint and approached it.

The young SOLDIER immediately brought his hand onto the door handle and did a mental count to three before turning the knob and opening it just a crack. Upon looking into the room, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. All that was in there was a small wooden desk located at the other side of the windowless room, piled up with a bunch of papers haphazardly scattered all over the top. A small table lamp was also present, its light presently shining on the papers and showing off the mess that was practically falling onto the floor one paper at a time. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was not a body to be found anywhere inside, neither dead or alive.

"It doesn't look like the professor's in his office, guys," he quietly announced after spending a good minute or so examining the room from the small opening of the door. "All that's in there is a monumental mess of papers and a table lamp that's on and just wasting a bunch of energy."

"He must be at the lab then," Angeal stated as he bit his tongue in a casual way. "Let's hurry up and get moving. We've wasted too much time here trying to look for him inside an empty office."

Without questioning his words, the Zack quickly closed the door and let his hand travel off of the knob. Now knowing that Professor Hojo's office was now devoid of him, the group started on their way again, this time going to the lab that was located somewhere on this floor and feeling very confident that they were going to find him loitering around in there.

"I still don't understand why the professor is still busy working on Gaia knows what in his lab while all hell's practically breaking loose around him," Zack wondered as they began to walk down a hall that would lead them towards their destination. "If I were him, I would at least be hiding out in my office, waiting for someone to come around and rescue me. I wouldn't be messing around in some lab while there's a great chance at being killed at any time surrounding me. I'm telling you, this guy's seriously has a screw loose somewhere in that crazy head of his."

"That doesn't really matter at this point," Angeal stated as he kept looking straight ahead down the hall and saw more dead zombies littering the path. "At least we know that he's now at the lab. If we're lucky, then maybe we'll be able to run into Sephiroth and we'll be able to team up with him."

"Team up with _the_ General Sephiroth himself?" Cloud asked in a somewhat day-dreamy tone. "That would be one of the greatest things that would happen to me all night. I mean, I know now's not the time to be thinking about being in his presence, but it's something a cadet like me doesn't get to experience everyday."

"And I understand that, Cloud," the older SOLDIER replied with a small nod of his head. "However, don't let that thought get to your head and distract you. If you let yourself wander into a dreamy state like you are right now, you'll easily end up seeing yourself being flanked and killed by those monsters. Don't forget to always keep your guard up, even in the presence of the General."

"Yes, sir," the blond acknowledged. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind when we meet up with him."

"Good. Make sure you do just that, cadet. Now then, we're almost at the labs. Make sure you two have your weapons ready. We don't know just what might already be there or will pop out at us at any moment. Always keep your guard up. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security."

"I'm sure we already know all that, Angeal," Zack answered as he shrugged his shoulder pack into a more comfortable position before getting a better and tighter grip onto his sword. "I mean, if this place has taught us anything tonight, it's to always keep our minds on our surroundings and on nothing else."

"Then make sure you both commit to that here. There isn't going to be any room here for mistakes. Just one small slip-up and that's all it'll take for things to easily go horribly wrong."

"Guys," Adeus called out to the group in a whisper. "I hear something…up ahead. It sounds…a lot like voices."

"Really?" the young SOLDIER asked as he raised one of his eyebrows a bit. "I didn't hear anything."

"He's right," Cloud replied as he backed up the sick cadet's words. "I can also hear someone talking. It sounds like it's just up ahead."

"Hey, you're both right," the spiky raven haired teen admitted as he decided to listen more closely and managed to catch a muffled voice speaking. "They're coming from the end of the hall."

"That's the direction of the lab," Angeal confirmed as his eyebrows furrowed a bit. "It seems like the professor is in there. Let's hurry up and get to him before things end up getting worse here."

"But how are we going to get out of here?" the blond voiced out his concern. "The stairs are too risky to take with that monster probably still in there, and the elevators up here are out of commission."

"We'll cross that bridge once we get to it," the older SOLDIER answered as he picked up his pace. "Right now, our main concern is to get to, protect, and escort Professor Hojo to safety."

Without saying another word, the group quickly made their way down the hallway. Once they reached the end of it, they turned the corner and immediately stopped in their tracks. Looking at the things that were in front of them, they were able to figure out where they now were. They had finally made it to the lab where Professor Hojo was presumably at.

The lab was more of an open space area than a room. It was quite spacious, but the various equipment that were along the walls and the occasional table here and there caused the place to have a somewhat cluttered feel. On the right side of the wall was some kind of big some-shaped machine that seemed big enough to house something. Whatever it was that was in there, though, none of them knew nor could they have figured out, for there was no visible way for them to see inside.

"It looks like we made it," Zack said as he gave a small sniff. "It still smells the same way I remember; funky and altogether unsettling."

"It does have an…interesting scent here," Cloud admitted as he wrinkled his nose a bit.

"Now's not the time for that, you two," Angeal warned them as he began to look around. "We heard the voice coming from somewhere in here. I'm willing to bet that it's the professor."

Almost as if on cue, they heard a somewhat elderly and creepily squeaky voice speak.

"It seems like my masterpiece was a complete success," they heard the voice say in a creepily happy way. "A pity, though, that they didn't turn out completely how I hoped they would. Oh well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers here. Now then, what else should I do here?"

Putting a finger in front of his mouth, Angeal signaled for Cloud and Zack to stay quiet. He then began to walk quietly deeper into the lab, the two teenagers following close behind him; their weapons at the ready for whatever may come their way.

Once they reached the corner of the huge machine, the older SOLDIER sidled along the side of it until he was able to peer around the corner of it without putting so much of his body out into the open. With careful movements, he looked over to the spot the machine had covered with its bulkiness.

After he did that, he was able to see a man slightly hunched over a small wooden table while perusing a piece of paper in his hands. The man had black hair that looked greasy and contained an occasional gray hair here and there. He wore a pair pf plain-rimmed glasses, a white lab coat that looked a bit wrinkled, and a pair of simple brown pants. His pair of black flat soled shoes completed his ensemble.

"Professor Hojo?" the older SOLDIER called out to the man as he stepped out from behind the machine.

Startled at the sudden appearance, the man jumped probably a good foot into the air before turning his head to see who was addressing him.

"Who's there?!" he exclaimed in a shaky tone. "What right do you have to barge into my lab unannounced like this and scaring me half to death? I ought to have you reported to the president for this!"

"I am sorry for frightening you so, professor," he apologized as Cloud and Zack came into view. "My name is Angeal Hewley. These people here is a fellow SOLDIER, 1st Class Zack Fair and his cadet, Cloud Strife. The one on my back is Cadet…"

"I don't care about your names," Professor Hojo interrupted rather rudely and abruptly. "What I care about now is on figuring out why you four have come into my lab in such a fashion with your beastly weapons drawn? Are you planning to kill me? Just so you know, you're not going to get away with it if you do."

"That's not what we're trying to do, you old kook!" Zack exclaimed, already getting tired of hearing the nonsense coming from the professor's mouth. "Why don't you let us speak for one moment and explain why we're even here before you start jumping to your delusional conclusions?"

"How dare you talk to me that way? Do you have any idea who you are speaking to? You are talking to the head of the Shinra Science Department; Professor Hojo! How dare you speak to me in such a tone that begets disrespect to one of authority?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that this is one of those times where we have to be a bit blunt with our words here," Angeal explained as he was visibly seen trying to keep his patience. "We're right now in a middle of a crisis. The entire building has been overrun by monsters and zombies. We have already activated the emergency system, and we have been instructed to escort you safely out of here."

"Oh, is that so?" the professor asked, completely abandoning his previously annoyed demeanor and replacing it with intrigue. "And who was it that initiated this command, if I may ask?"

"The Turks, along with Director Lazard, ordered us to come here and save you," Zack answered as he fought back the urge to snap at the man again. "They said that they wanted to get you out of here before things got worse in here."

"So the Turks put you up to this. Well, this is certainly an interesting piece of news. I can already tell that this is going to be even more entertaining than my last visitor I saw a few minutes ago."

"Your last visitor?" Cloud repeated in a questioning tone. "Who was it that came and visited you earlier?"

"Humph, what an impolite boy you are. You don't just go around asking people you don't know about their past visitors. It's highly improper; even more so considering that we don't even know each other."

"I'm sorry, professor, but this is something important that we must know," Angeal insisted. "Can you please tell us who came to see you earlier? It's too dangerous for him or her to be wandering on their own in here."

"I thought I already said that it was rude to ask someone a question of that caliber. Apparently, even the 1st class SOLDIERs have a hard time listening to and following the words of their elders."

"I-I apologize," the older SOLDIER stuttered as he barely managed to stop himself from growling in anger. Apparently, the good professor managed to get underneath cool-headed Angeal's skin with the greatest of ease.

However, before anybody else could say anything else, Adeus gave out a moan of pain; this time louder than it previously had been. It had effectively caught the attention of everybody in the room, including Professor Hojo's.

"Wh-what's wrong, Adeus?" Cloud asked as he looked at his friend in a concerned way. "Are you getting worse or something?"

"H-headaches…," the cadet managed to say as his face contorted with pain. "Immense ones… It's…almost unbearable!"

"Headaches, you say?" the professor repeated in an almost gleeful voice. "Well, come on! Don't just leave him on your useless shoulders, you big ape! Get him off and have him lean on the wall here so I can get a good look at him."

"Yes, professor," Angeal answered as he did as he was told, making sure not to grimace at being called a big ape, and allowed Adeus's back to be supported on the wall as he sat him down.

"Just like that," Hojo said with a smile. "Now I can go ahead and have a quick examination of him. It will only take but a moment."

"You make sure that you don't try to pull any weird things on Adeus!" Zack warned in a threatening manner. "I swear, if you try to do something other than examine him, I'm not going to let you get away with it."

"Your empty threats mean nothing to me, boy. I've nothing to be afraid of. Rather, it should be you who has to be afraid. After all, making threats like that to me can easily pull you out of the SOLDIER program."

"Just please hurry up and examine the poor cadet," the older SOLDIER almost pleaded. "He's been like this for about a good twenty minutes now. It started out with a small cough and then progressed to a full-blown fever ten minutes later."

"Is that so?" the professor inquired as he checked for Adeus's pulse and his skin color and all those other various things. "Ah, he's got a scratch here on his arm."

"Yeah, that came from a battle against one of those monsters with a blade-arm," Cloud explained as he recalled the fight they had in the director's office. "That happened about forty-five minutes ago."

"Ah, so it came from one of the monsters," Hojo stated more to himself than to the others around him. "I see. That's good then."

"What's good about all this?" Zack asked with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

"Why, he's been attacked by a carrier."

"A carrier?" Angeal repeated in a tone laced with nothing but confusion.

"Exactly, a carrier. And now, he's beginning to turn into one of them. Oh, this is splendid!"

"Who is he turning into, Professor Hojo?" the blond inquired, his voice starting to resonate with worry at what he might hear next.

"I can't believe that I am actually seeing the results of my advanced experiment unfolding right before my very eyes! This is wonderful!"

"Did you just say 'experiment?!'" the young SOLDIER practically shouted out. "What are you talking about here?!"

"I'm talking about the experiment that I've conducted tonight," the professor replied calmly as he started to chuckle a bit. "In fact, you are all a part of this very experiment that is still going on at this very moment. And now, a specimen has been brought back to me. And a live one at that, too!"

"W-wait a minute!" Angeal breathed out as he finally allowed his anger to be vented towards the professor. "You're not trying to say that Adeus is turning into what I think you're trying to tell us, are you?"

"Why, of course he is. This little cadet here," Professor Hojo said as he patted Adeus's head in a sarcastically comforting way, "is one of the many results of my experiment tonight. He is beginning to turn into one of the monsters that have been causing havoc throughout this entire building. He's beginning to turn into one of them."


	17. The Truth Behind This Hell

**Chapter 16: The Truth Behind This Hell**

Upon hearing those words, the entire room fell silent. The only noise that even dared to penetrate the suddenly tense air was Adeus's moans of pain from the headache he was still suffering from. The news that Professor Hojo had imparted onto them within the past couple of minutes have been, for a lack of a better word, unbelievably shocking. Not only was it shocking; it was also the most appalling thing they had heard in their entire lives.

"You…! You…!" Zack murmured angrily through clenched teeth, his angered mind barely able to form understandable sentences and causing his face to turn dark red. "How…? You dare…?!"

"Whatever is the matter with you, dear SOLDIER?" the professor asked without once lifting his gaze off of the sick cadet. "It sounds as though you are at a loss of words. I take it that this is a good sign. Are you amazed at how my experiment has turned out that you have been left speechless?"

"Sp-speechless?!" the young SOLDIER all but yelled right at the professor with such venom, he probably could have killed someone with his anger alone right now. "That word's not even close to describing how I'm feeling right now! I feel like grabbing a hold of you with my two hands and personally tear you apart limb by limb! Who the hell are you to be saying that Adeus is turning into one of those damn monsters?! Who the hell are you to be using us as…as lab rats for your…sick experiments?!"

"My, you are quite lively right now, aren't you?" he replied in an unnaturally calm voice as he now decided to look at the enraged SOLDIER "You know that all this stress you're venting out on me is truly not very good for your health."

"Screw _my_ health! It's his I'm worried about right now!"

"Zackary, calm down!" Angeal ordered the hysterical SOLDIER teen through clenched teeth, as sign that even he could not hide his anger at this point. "This is neither the time nor place for you to be losing your temper! Rather, we should be using this time to question this…_professor_," he said with great venom as he shot a death glare at said man, "about what he was talking about. Obviously, he seems to know quite a bit about what's going on around here."

"But…, but he…?!" the teen continued to stutter through his anger, although he was starting to calm down ever so slightly.

"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration with one hand and pointed his other one at the SOLDIER. "Look, I'm just about as…as… Oh, there isn't even a single word to explain how I'm feeling right now! The point is, I know exactly how you're feeling right now. But has it ever occur to you that getting angry at this point isn't going to be solving anything?"

"Of course I know that, Cloud. But have the right to be angry here! I just learned that my cadet-slash-buddy here is now turning into one of those monsters, and this sick professor here has been treating the four of us like guinea pigs the entire time! He was probably sitting up here having a cup of tea and relaxing while the whole place around him started to reek of death, thanks to his sick and demented mind!"

"Oh, I assure you, I was not sitting back and relaxing while having a cup of tea, as you so nicely put it," Professor Hojo said, seemingly unaware of the sarcasm in the words he had just answered or just choosing to ignore it altogether; regardless, he answered it with a calm demeanor. "However, a nice cup of tea would have been a good thing to have while I was waiting."

"Let's just get straight to the point here, Professor…, no, _Mr._ Hojo!" Angeal said with a snarl as he made sure to not use the man's proper title, his own personal way of insulting him. "I want you to explain everything that you know about all this to us immediately! What role did you play in all this?"

At this demand, Hojo simply laughed and he stepped back a few paces towards the table he was hunched over when they first saw him. "Ha, ha, ha! Who do you think you are, ordering me around like you were my superior? I do not need to explain myself to the likes of you. It doesn't matter how much you 'order' me to tell you; you are not my superior, and therefore, you cannot tell me what I can and can't do.

"However," he continued on with a small shrug as he picked up a piece of paper from the table, "I suppose you lab rats do deserve some kind of explanation. After all, you _were_ thrown into this situation without any knowledge of what was happening. I suppose it's only fair that you know what kind of experiment you were participating in."

"I think 'participating' is a major understatement, professor," Cloud retorted with a heavy snort. "It was more like you forced us into this situation."

"Oh, you're one of those people who bother with such frivolous details. Participating, forced; it's all the same thing in the end. They both end up producing the same result, so there isn't any difference between the two."

"Would you please just tell us what you were trying to do here?" Zack insisted in a much calmer tone from before, although it was still heavily laced with anger. "I want to know what you have to say about all this while I still have the patience to listen to your pathetic voice."

"My, you need to learn to have some patience, boy. That and you need to learn how to respect not only your elders but also your superiors."

"Mr. Hojo!" Angeal snapped as he was clearly starting to lose what little patience he managed to keep during this entirely angry moment. "Just-just get on with your explanation. We do not have all night to be standing around here and exchanging heated words and meaningless explanations. Just tell us what you had in mind when you decided to go ahead with this demented experiment of yours."

"Very well," Hojo conceded with a defeated sigh. "I swear, you are all such irrational people whenever your minds are clouded with such anger. You must learn to clear your mind of such thoughts so you can better grasp whatever it is you want to figure out."

"Shut up!" the blond shouted angrily as his hands were balled up into fists. "Just give us the blasted explanation!" he annunciated every syllable clearly to stress his agitation.

"Whatever makes you happy. Let me see, where should I begin first?"

"How about at the very beginning?" Zack suggested as he continued to glare daggers at the man.

"Very well then. It all started when I was ten. I noticed that I was different from all of the other kids at school. I always had a knack for concocting things in science and was easily fascinated by the chemistry that was involved in such amazingly complex, yet seemingly simple, concoctions; some being seemingly safe, yet housing such dangerous potential."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" the spiky haired teen exclaimed as he nearly deadpanned right then and there. "We don't want you to go talking about your life story! We want you to start talking from the very beginning of this incident!"

"Oh, well why didn't you specify it so?" Hojo inquired in mock confusion. "You had me confused when you only said for me to start at the beginning."

"Enough!" Angeal shouted, finally losing his temper and now sporting a face of utter rage, an uncharacteristic emotion that was rarely, if not ever seen, on the older SOLDIER's demeanor. "Your experiment! Explanation! Now!!!"

For a brief moment, everybody in the lab was quiet. Even the smart-mouthed professor was left speechless momentarily. None of them had ever heard the SOLDIER lose his temper before. Actually, Zack had seen him do that once before, but it was never at the magnitude that it was right at this very moment. No Angeal was practically steaming right through the ears at this point; his face painted red and his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"…It started when I first came up with the idea for this experiment a couple of months ago," Hojo stated as he broke the silence, opting to use a serious tone this time instead of his normal, uncaring tone. "I was trying to come up with an idea on how to create the ultimate weapons of mass destruction."

"And are these zombies and monsters a result of your weapons production?" Zack asked as he let the words sink in and was nearly overwhelmed by the shock he was feeling right now.

"Do not interrupt me while I'm speaking," the professor chastised him. "You were badgering me to tell you my thoughts all this time. The least you could do is to not interrupt me after pestering me for such a long time."

"Just continue with your explanation," Cloud attempted to steer the conversation back on-course. "What was your main idea on trying to make weapons?"

"My main goal was to make weapons that would be greatly feared all around the planet of Gaia. There would not be a single soul who wouldn't know about the man-made monsters that lurked just behind the Shinra walls, waiting for their chance to be unleashed against those who dare to revolt against the Shinra Company. Yes, the creatures that I have created were originally intended to be used primarily for crushing any rebel factors that have made their base along the continents of Gaia."

"Originally intended?" Angeal repeated as he managed to regain part of his usual demeanor. "Does this mean that you decided to change your plans for them somewhere along the way?"

"Exactly. Halfway through the creation process, I was struck with the most wonderful of ideas. Why not have the creatures become a part of our army? I felt that if I had their expected strength levels calculated correctly, then they would be better used as weapons in the battlefield rather than for just infiltration of rebel bases. That's when I came up with this idea to test out my theory right in this very building.

"Of course, I knew of the implications that would arise once I committed such an action. So, I took on a few necessary actions. I made sure that all of these monsters had at least a small amount of my own cells planted into them during their creation process. That way, they would not be coming after me like some common prey. It worked like a charm and I had developed a kind of immunity against their attacks.

"The next thing I did was probably the most important thing. I knew that if I were to unleash my creation upon the building, I would be facing severe consequences once they have been traced back to me. To avoid such a thing from happening, I decided to confer my plans with a superior. In fact, I had decided that it would have been best if I talked about my plan to President Shinra himself."

"A-are you saying that the president himself is also in on this?!" Cloud exclaimed in disbelief. "Are you actually saying that he authorized the attack on this building?"

"If you want to put it that way, then yes. He was the one who allowed the experiment to take place. Besides, he said that he would like to have a demonstration of my plans. He figured that it would have been best if I unleashed my creations upon the people of this building. Of course, I also wanted to see how the members of SOLDIER would fare against such fearsome creatures."

"Is that why you arranged for an assembly to take place earlier tonight?" Zack asked as he suddenly remembered about the long forgotten event. "You wanted to gather as much SOLDIER members and cadets into one room as you can so you can sic your monsters onto them just for the sake of seeing how well they can kill?"

"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that assembly," Hojo said in a somewhat thoughtful tone. "You're right, that was exactly what I had planned at the time. It was the only way I could think about showing off my dear weapons without arousing too much suspicion upon myself. I must say that it worked quite effectively."

"You're…a sick man!" Adeus, who was quiet for the entire time, spoke up angrily. "How could you…have such little regard…for human life?"

"What is there to regard about human life? All life on this planet is subject to experimentation, whether they know it or not. I am just simply taking advantage of it."

"…How did you have the monsters appear on most of the floors here?" Angeal asked as disbelief completely overwhelmed his system and he suddenly felt to drained to even be angry.

"I didn't. I let a few zombies loose on a couple of floors and directed a monster to appear at the 45th floor assembly room. Everything else just came on its own accord after that. After all, I'm sure I already told you that once a person has wounded by either zombie or monster and live through it, they will eventually turn into whatever inflicted harm upon their bodies. I believe it is safe to assume that some people were wounded and they became confused and scattered. They probably moved between floors before they ended up transforming. That must have been how the zombies and monsters managed to migrate between floors. Oh, this is such an exciting revelation! I can hardly contain my excitement!"

"…Is there…any way to cure someone who's already been injured by one of the creatures yet has not yet already turned into them or died?" Zack asked in a half-whisper after listening to the long explanation.

"Any why would I tell you something as sensitive like that? I don't really see any point in you having information like that."

"We need it to save Adeus!" Cloud explained as he, too, was feeling drained from the explanation.

"And why would you want to go save him?" Hojo asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced over at the sick cadet, his face still contorted with pain. "I find that it would be best if you would just allow him to turn into one of those things."

"What?!" all three of them exclaimed in shock, their weariness suddenly gone and replaced with even more disbelief.

"It would be nice to add one more monster to my biological weapon collection. After all, you can't have too many weapons of mass destruction."

"How dare you say something like that?!" Zack shouted as he suddenly jumped at the professor and held the man by the collar of his lab coat. "Give us the cure for Adeus! Tell us where it is now!"

"Do you think that you can intimidate me into giving you what you want?" the professor asked without even a single shred of worry in his voice, despite the situation he was currently in. "You are going to have to do better than that to get what you seek from me."

"Why you…!" he growled menacingly. However, he did not get a chance to finish whatever he was about to say, because a great bang sounded and a big tremor accompanied it. The younger SOLDIER loosened his grip of the man's collar out of shock, and he took this opportunity to escape from his grasp and a safe distance away from him.

"It seems as though my latest experiment is about to awaken," Hojo simply replied as he stumbled towards the back of the room while trying to keep his balance from the shaking floor.

"Wh-what's happening here?!" Cloud exclaimed as fright was apparent in his voice. "Why is the place shaking so violently?!"

"Even though I am the creator of this monster, even I fear its potential," the professor admitted as the trio saw him sneak his way into a service elevator in the back of the room that led up to the 68th floor lab. "I am glad, though, that you are all here to be test subjects for it. I would like to see how well this one fares in battle. I wish you all luck; you're going to need as much of it as you can get! Ha, ha, ha!"

And with that last sarcastic remark, the iron grated doors closed and he began to ascend up to the upper lab.

"Hey, get back here!" Zack shouted as he began to run towards the elevator in an attempt to stop it, but he himself was stopped by another large tremor that accompanied another loud bang.

"Where's the thing coming from?!" the blond shouted as he began to look frantically around the lab for any signs of a dent appearing on the walls.

"That machine!" Angeal answered as he pointed to the dome-shaped machine that they had passed by a few minutes ago. "The creature's inside that machine! It's trying to break free!"

Sure enough, the machine started to move just as another bang was heard, causing a large dent to appear on top of another one that was created just moments ago.

All the trio could do at this point was stare at the machine in complete shock as they attempted to ready their weapons. Stepping back a few paces from it, they kept their eyes glued on the dents that were progressively getting bigger and bigger. It was only a matter of time before the creature managed to break out of its confinement and started to attack them. This was definitely not what they needed to do right now, but it seemed that they would have no choice but to take care of whatever it was that was going to make itself known at any moment. They could only hope now that whatever it was that was trying to come out of the machine was not going to kill them before they were able to kill it first.


	18. Hell's Deadliest Beast

**Chapter 17: Hell's Deadliest Beast**

"Oh, we seriously don't have to be dealing with more of these crazy things right now!" Zack exclaimed as he shifted his gaze nervously between where the elevator in the back of the room was to the machine that had the monster trying to bust its way out of its confinement. "We have something even more important to deal with. The professor is going to get away from us!"

"I know that!" Angeal answered as he immediately went over towards Adeus's location and positioned himself so he could protect the defenseless cadet from whatever was trying to break out. "But we can't leave here with whatever is inside that machine trying to break out and following closely behind us once it does. Besides, by the time we get to the elevator and attempt to summon it back, it would probably already break out of its confinement."

"Oh, and just when I thought things were going to get better for us here," Cloud replied sarcastically with a heavy sigh. "Now we have to fight some kind of new monster and survive at the same time. What else are we going to have to face next before we can get out of this official hellhole?"

"How about this monster here that even Hojo said he feared before he ran away to the next floor?" the spiky haired cadet said as the machine received another dent; this time, the machine's door shivered upon impact and threatened to come off at any moment. "It's either that or we have to face the problem of trying to find a way out of here. It doesn't matter what we choose to do now; we're practically screwed no matter how you look at it."

"Well, if you keep thinking like that Zack, then we _are_ going to be screwed, as you so nicely put it," the older SOLDIER stated just as one of the screws from the door flew off and struck the wall opposite it. "Just try to keep your mind focused on surviving here and trying to kill whatever is going to come out of that instead of the things that we can't do right now. Thinking negatively right now is really not going to help any of us fight any better."

Before any of them could say anything else, though, a final bang was heard before they saw the metal door to the machine fly off of its hinges and strike the same wall the loose screw did with a sharp noise. Keeping their gaze at the now open machine, they all waited nervously for what was to come out of its confinement. A few seconds passed after that was done, and nothing inside seemed to make any attempt to exit out into the lab. Instead, whatever was inside seemed to choose to stay inside its confinement rather than meet whoever was outside.

"Uh, I guess it tired itself out just trying to break the door down," Zack said in an unsure tone as he raised an eyebrow at this. "Either that or it just suddenly died right after it broke down the door."

"I really don't think that either of those possibilities are right, Zack," Cloud replied in a doubtful tone as his grip on his gun tightened. "All we know is that the professor ran off and we're left in a room with a monster who does Gaia knows what!"

"Just stay on your guard at all times," Angeal warned them quietly without once taking his gaze off of the machine and its open door that was currently spewing a thin film of what seemed to be either white smoke or steam. "We don't know just for sure what's going on right now. A moment's lapse in concentration here will definitely result in terrible consequences."

Suddenly, a large blur dashed out of the machine's interior, effectively startling the three of them. It headed towards the wall that it threw the door into, but instead of bouncing off of it, it adhered onto it and stayed there for a good few seconds. This allowed the trio to get a good look at the monster that was housed inside the machine for only Gaia knows how long.

"Oh boy," the young SOLDIER teen groaned as he stared at the monster that had plastered itself onto the wall.

The monster was unlike any other they had encountered before up until now. It had the same reddish skin as all the others, although it was not as dark as usual and seemed to lean more to the color of a person who was just plain angry; a more natural red than artificial. It did not have a blade on its right arm as the others did nor did it have threatening spikes growing along its spinal cord, but it was bigger in size and had a wilder look to it, thus seemingly adding to its ferocity rather than diminishing it. It also seemed to be able to comprehend what was around it unlike the others for it was seemingly scanning the entire room as if it were in search for something of interest. And that made it all the more menacing.

"That…definitely looks a lot…different from the others we've seen in here," Cloud stated, completely at a loss for words at what he was seeing. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"I haven't either," Angeal answered as he tightened the grip on his sword. "That shouldn't be any reason for us to hesitate under its presence, though. Doing so would only result in us losing more than just our lives here. Make sure to keep a level head here and don't let it intimidate you."

"Easier said than done, Angeal," Zack replied while furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. "It's kind of hard not to feel even a little bit intimidated here. We've never seen something like this roaming around in here before. We don't even know what it's capable of doing to us."

"Which is exactly why I said that you should try to keep a level head here," the older SOLDIER repeated to the young teen without letting his eyes leave his sight of the monster. "We need to be able to see what it can and cannot do. That's pretty much the best we can do right now."

"Let's not forget that Professor Hojo said that even he himself feared the potential that's housed within this monster," Cloud reminded them as the monster continued to shift its gaze all around the room. "I think that practically tells us that this is going to be stronger than any of the others that we have faced in here. Either that or he's just trying to scare us into losing."

Before any more words could be exchanged between the two of them, the monster plastered onto the wall suddenly leaped away from it and landed next to a pile of wooden crates nestled near the machine it came from. A small shockwave resulted from its landing and shook a couple of crates from the top, causing them to fall down to the ground and shattering upon impact. Wood splinters were sent flying a couple of feet in all directions, and the contents of the crates were left exposed for all to see. Shattered pieces of glass were lying on top of wooden shards, broken beyond all recognition. Those very pieces were then turned into dust by the monster's footsteps crushing them while distributing its weight around.

"That's a…pretty heavy monster," the blond said with a hitched breath as he tried to recover from a misstep that was a result from the previous small shockwave. "That thing can easily flatten us like a pancake with that kind of strength that can cause a mini-earthquake every time it lands! What else can it do that could potentially kill us that we don't know about?"

The monster then slowly brought its body up and attempted to bring its two forelegs up. After a couple of seconds, it had managed to stand on its two hind legs, which were somewhat built to resemble that of a humans yet had large muscles that were impossible for one to have. Its front legs were now able to function as arms; its two hands were probably the size of a standard round manual wall clock, and one of them seemed to be leaning against the crates as if it were trying to steady itself, the boxes moving slightly due to the added weight against it.

"…And it can easily knock us out with just a single swing from its arms," the young SOLDIER teen added as they watched the creature slowly remove its hand from its support and managed to stay on its feet. Does that answer your question as to what else it can do, Cloud?"

The creature then made to reach for one of the crates it landed next to with its arms. Amazingly, it was smarter than it looked for it took one from the very top instead of trying to take one from the very center of the stack. This gave the trio even more to worry about, for it showed that the monster had some amount of intelligence and it would probably try to use it against them.

"Unfortunately, no," the blond groaned worriedly.

Once the creature had a firm grip on one of the brown wooden crates, it picked it up and lifted it over its head. With its arms bent backwards at what seemed to be terribly disfigured and scaly elbows, it looked as though it was about to throw the thing right at the trio. And that's exactly what it did as it threw its arms in front of it before letting it go and fly across the room at them.

"Move it!" the older SOLDIER exclaimed as he began to move away from the line of the monster's throw.

Not even a second later, the crate had nearly reached their position. Thankfully, they managed to get away from it by dodging to the side and away from the flying crate's path, although they had barely escaped by just a couple of inches. Thankfully, Adeus was leaning against the wall in a sitting position and was out of range from the projectile, so he did not have to worry much about being hit. He was also luckily out of eyeshot from it because of a metal table filled with a bunch of big things and forming a rather crude wall for him to hide behind.

"Whoa!" Zack exclaimed as he landed a few feet away from where he was previously standing without so much as a misstep. "It looks like this thing knows how to use things around it to its advantage during a fight. Well, that just makes things a whole lot harder on us."

"Uh, wouldn't that be the other way around, Zack?" Cloud asked as he nearly messed up on his landing and was saved by Zack's hand grabbing a hold of his arm. "Wouldn't it be better if it had something in its hands instead of nothing? I would think that it would make reading and perceiving its next move easier than if it just swung at us randomly with its arms."

"It's definitely not easier that way," the teen answered hastily as he saw the monster getting ready to load another crate into its hands. "It really does end up making it harder because we don't know what it plans to do with whatever it is that it manages to grab a hold of. Don't ask me how I know that; I've learned from past experience. Just trust me on that."

"Pay attention, you two!" Angeal who was a few feet opposite the two, chastised them hastily as he took a Materia off of his armlet. "Stop talking and start fighting lest you want to be killed!"

"S-sorry, sir!" the blond apologized as he followed suit and took his Fire Materia into his hands. "Are you planning to take it on with ranged magic rather than going in for a melee attack?"

"That's the plan," the older SOLDIER answered as he dodged the second crate that was aimed at him by simply taking cover behind a metal pole that extended all the way to the ceiling of the lab, thus allowing it to shatter without incurring harm upon him. "I fear what those strong arms can do to us. I'm sure they're used for more than just throwing things."

"So we're going to be playing it safe and attack it from a distance?" Zack confirmed as he, too, took out his Blizzara Materia and readied it. "That sounds like a good plan to me."

"On my mark then, we strike as one. Stay at the ready and don't move until I tell you to."

Visibly getting frustrated at its continual misses, the monster started to stomp its foot a bit on the floor, causing a small bout of tremors to form. Apparently, the monster had a sort of childish side to it and hated to lose. As a response to its own antics, it decided to pick up yet another crate, its determination to hit one of them burning clearly through its artificially glowing black eyes.

"Now!" Angeal commanded just as the creature lifted the crate above its head in preparation for another throw.

Upon hearing the command, both Cloud and Zack let loose their respective spells and directed them at the monster. Angeal did the same with his as a few sparks flew out from his Materia and started to form a bolt of lightning. The two teens' magic came out first and headed towards the beast, followed closely by the older SOLDIER's completed Thundara spell. All of them struck the beast, each one about a second apart from each other, causing it to drop the crate and move back a few paces from the blow. This all happened after the crate dropped onto its head and splintered into pieces, some of the glass shattering onto the head as well.

"You were waiting for it to try and throw another crate at us before we struck it, weren't you sir?" Cloud asked in realization as the monster was trying to recover from the attack.

"Exactly, Cloud," Angeal answered with a small smile as he kept his grip on both his Materia and currently unused sword. "Now's our chance to strike it down while it's distracted!"

"No need to tell us twice," Zack replied with a cocky smile as he lifted his sword and began to charge at the beast head-on. "Let's see how it likes the taste of steel piercing its body!"

Within two seconds, the young SOLDIER closed the gap between him and the creature. With his sword raised above his head, he prepared for a downward slash starting from the beast's shoulders. However, right at the last second, the beast raised its arm and swatted the offending blade away, hitting it on the blunt side and therefore redirecting it to completely miss its body. This, in turn, caused Zack's body to turn with the sword due to the sudden shift in direction.

"What?!" Zack exclaimed in shock as his blade made contact with the floor behind him and simply struck it with a loud pinging noise his back now momentarily facing the creature. "H-how the heck did it simply redirect my strike? That wasn't even supposed to have happened!"

"That doesn't look good," Cloud whispered as he winced at the sound the contact made. "Now how are we supposed to go and kill this thing?"

"This is just great," Angeal sighed out in a frustrated manner as he saw the young SOLDIER quickly pick up his sword, turn around to face the monster again, and go in for another strike, only to be met with the same results as last time. "It's fast enough to deflect melee attacks directed at it, even after being hit by strong magic and being forced to stagger a bit. That really is one tough monster; different from any other we've faced in here so far."

"So how are we going to go about killing it?" the spiky haired teen asked as he quickly backed away from a swift arm trying to knock him away. "It's too fast for my sword to even try and make contact with it."

"Then maybe I should try shooting it down," the blond suggested as he readily cocked his gun and aimed it at the creature. "I doubt it's quick enough to dodge a speeding bullet directed at it."

"Then feel free to let loose with your bullets, Cloud," the older SOLDIER stated with a nod as he gave the blond permission to fire his gun at will. "Give it an injury it won't soon forget."

With those words, the cadet quickly cocked his gun and began to shoot out his regular bullets at the monster. As earlier thought, the monster was not quick enough to deflect or even dodge the bullets flying at him and they easily made contact with their intended target. However, that did not really matter, for what happened next shocked the trio even more.

Instead of sustaining damage as they thought the creature would have, the monster did not even move a muscle as all of the bullets fired made direct contact and became embedded into its torso. In fact, it acted as though nothing had happened and gave out no indication of any pain being inflicted upon it. It simply stood there and absorbed the shots being done to it; the only indication of the bullets even hitting their marks were the bullet holes that were created. Not even the holes seemed to be natural; they were void of any blood or any kind of internal life fluid. This truly was a monster in every sense of the word.

"Wh-what?!" Cloud recoiled at what he had just seen. "Th-the bullets didn't even make it flinch! But that's impossible!"

"This...is bad!" Zack groaned worriedly as his breath hitched in shock. "No matter what we do or how hard we try, nothing we do seems to even be making it wince in pain! What are we supposed to do about this now?!"

"We're supposed to try and stay calm, Zack," Angeal reminded him, although his tone seemed to slightly betray his own words. "I'm sure that there's some way to inflict some sort of harm upon it. We just need to keep a level head and try to figure out a way to do so."

For a moment, they contemplated on what they could try out while keeping a close look at the creature and its movements. They saw it look around the room again in a somewhat blank state. It was almost as though it did not really register that the trio was right in front of it anymore.

"God, this thing acts so harmless, yet it's actually such an attentive and deadly thing!" the spiky raven haired teen growled with a frustrated look. "No wonder the crazy professor said that he feared this freaky creation of his. This thing is smart and it refuses to go down."

After scanning the area for a few more seconds, the creature suddenly quickly made its way to its left where a pile of debris, which had appeared there thanks to the earlier tremors it caused, laid. Sifting through it for less than a second, it took out a long, thick metal pole and held it in its beefy hands. It now looked ready to fight at close range, the metal pole serving as its own variation of a sword and threatening to hurt anyone who dared to approach it.

"Now it wants to use weapons against us," Angeal sighed with a frown on his face as he bit his lip a bit. "This truly is one of the smarter monsters we've faced thus far. It's going to be interesting to try and get around that pole and striking it down without getting ourselves killed now."

"How about we try some more magic attacks on it?" Cloud suggested as he still held on to his Fire Materia. "Maybe we're still able to do some damage like that to it. It's worth a shot, at least."

"I suppose that's all we can do for now," the older SOLDIER replied with a sigh. "Alright then, attack it with everything you got!"

Upon hearing the command, both Cloud and Zack began to attack the creature again with their respective magic. Angeal soon started attacking with his magic and the entire space between the trio and monster was filled with various elemental magic. They all struck their target, but it did not seem to do much of anything. The creature just simply stood there with its pole in its hands and took in all the hits without moving a single inch.

"Oh, even this doesn't seem to be doing anything to it!" the young SOLDIER exclaimed as he stopped with his part of the magic bombardment and lowered his hand. "It's not even flinching like it did last time we bombarded it like this! It's just standing there and taking all the blows as if they were nothing!"

"We need to come up with another plan!" Cloud stated while pinching his eyes closed in frustration.

Suddenly, the creature leapt towards them with its pole raised above it in preparation for a downward strike.

"Heads up, you two!" Angeal shouted as he moved in front of the two and raised his sword above his head in a defensive stance. The pole simply bounced off of the sword, as he had intended for it to do; but the strength of the strike caused the older SOLDIER's arms to quiver a bit.

"Are you okay, Angeal?!" Zack asked in concern as he saw his mentor's quivering arm trying to steady itself.

"I'm fine!" he answered through gritted teeth as he saw the creature move back a few paces before coming in again for another strike with the pole. "Just help me take care of this creature!"

"Alright!" he answered as the monster rushed past Angeal for some odd reason and headed straight for Zack. Barely having enough time to prepare himself, he swung his sword in front of him in a defensive manner and barely managed to parry the strong swing directed at him. His feet skidded across the floor a few inches from the resulting force, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"And what am I supposed to do now?" Cloud asked as he watched the two swordsmen parry blows being dealt to them and trying to find some kind of opening to strike.

"You stay back for now, Cloud," Zack managed to say while ducking underneath a horizontal swing. "You have a Cure Materia on you, right? Use it to heal us when we get hit by that big pole. We may be SOLDIERs, but it's still going to hurt big time for us if we get hit by it."

"Got it," the blond acknowledged as he quickly replaced his current Materia with the other that was positioned in the second slot of his armlet. "Just make sure that I don't have to heal you two too much. I don't want you two to end up so injured that I just can't fix you guys up."

"Just worry more about your own safety here," Angeal stated as he tried to stab the creature and was stopped by the creature using one of the ends of the pole to block the sword's path. "Unless this thing tries to move towards Adeus's position, try not to draw any attention to yourself."

"Yes, sir!"

For the next couple of minutes, the two SOLDIERs continued to fight against the creature, which was truly putting up one hell of a fight. There were a few instances where they were injured by the pole making contact with their bodies, and Cloud simply used his Cure Materia from a distance to heal them. Thankfully, they were all right now only receiving injuries from something other than the monster's hands itself. They were all being careful to not let that happen to them.

Unfortunately, this battle was really going nowhere quickly, and they were all starting to pretty get tired; including Cloud, whose low skill in magic did not allow for him to use it in quick succession over a small amount of time. As a result of it, he became slightly worn out because of the constant healing he was doing to his comrades at his skill level.

"This thing is just too damn smart!" Zack panted as he was visibly starting to grow pretty tired as he ducked under a horizontal strike and rolled away a few feet away to safety. "It just keeps parrying all of our attacks we throw at it! Nothing seems to get through to it!"

"Don't let up, Zack!" Angeal urged the SOLDIER teen through a strained voice as he jumped back a bit so he could safely catch his breath. "The moment you do that is the moment you lose against it. Besides, I think I've just thought up of another way that we can take down this creature."

"Are you sure that this plan is going to work, sir?" Cloud asked as he continued to shift his eyes between them and the monster, making sure to carefully watch the battle and use his Cure Materia when necessary. "The others didn't seem to have much luck when we tried them out."

"I'm sure that this one will work," the older SOLDIER stated as he dodged a vertical strike aimed at his head. "All we have to do is to try and decapitate it before it kills us."

For a moment, everybody was quiet and simply stared at Angeal. Even the monster seemed to be staring at him, although it was probably trying to contemplate how to deliver its next strike. A second later, Zack broke the silence as a look of disbelief crossed over his face.

"You want us to go decapitating it?" he asked as his eyes widened at the suggestion. "You want us to try and decapitate the darn monster?! And how the hell do you expect us to do that, Angeal?! We can't even get at it with our swords and you want us to try and cut it up into pieces?"

"That's pretty much what I had in mind, Zack," the man stated as calmly as he could as he tried to figure out what the creature was planning to do next. "I'm not sure if it'll work, but this is the last plan that I can come up with. If it doesn't work, then I don't think that there's anything that can kill this thing."

"Did you really just say that, Angeal?!" the spiky raven haired teen exclaimed. "How can you even suggest that we do something like that in such a calm manner when you're not even sure if it's even going to work? It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. Besides, that thing keeps dodging and blocking all of our strikes. How do you expect us to even get near enough to it in order to even try and decapitate one of its body parts? If you have some special technique or something that you know and haven't been trying to use against this thing just so you can get a strike into it, then I would like to know of it."

"I don't know nor am I hiding anything like that. And yes, I understand the problem within this plan. However, there might be a way around it. If we can just simply…"

Before he could finish his sentence, though, the creature suddenly held the pole in one hand, brought that very hand behind it, and quickly shoved it back in front of its body while letting go of the pole, thus causing it to fly at a fast pace towards the SOLDIERs and Cloud, who was positioned behind them a couple of feet away.

Without saying a single word, for there was no time to do so, Angeal immediately ducked down towards the floor to dodge the oncoming pole. Zack, however, quickly turned around and jumped towards Cloud, whose view of the oncoming pole was blocked by the two SOLDIERs' bodies. Once he collided with the young cadet, the blond was pushed backwards and was sent down onto the floor with a loud thud due to the force of Zack falling forward and onto him, and they were now both on the metal floor. Another second later, the metal pole flew harmlessly over their bodies and slammed into the wall, where it made a loud noise and left a huge dent after clanging noisily to the floor.

"Z-Zack!" the blond wheezed out as he felt the air leave his lungs from both the hard contact with the floor and big muscled teen crushing him with his weight. "G-get your body off of me!"

"You know, you could at least be a little more grateful at me saving your life there, Cloud," Zack grumbled with a small playful pout as he carefully rolled off of the struggling teen underneath him. "I mean, if it weren't for me pushing you down, you would have been what made contact with the pole rather than the wall. You'd have been killed by such an attack."

"And I really thank you for that, Zack," the blond thanked him as he quickly sat up and tried to regain his lost breath. "But couldn't you have done so without landing on me and practically crushing me into a pancake? You're a heavy guy, you know that? If the pole didn't kill me, then your body crushing mines and suffocating we would have done the job."

"Oh, quit your whining," the teen replied as he quickly got up onto his feet and looked at the spot where Angeal laid. "The important thing here is that you're still alive. You were very lucky that I noticed you couldn't have possibly seen that pole coming at you."

"Zack, your shoulder!" the cadet suddenly exclaimed as he pointed at Zack's left shoulder.

"What about it?" he inquired nonchalantly as he turned his head back a bit to look at the blond.

"I-it's bleeding!"

"What?!" the SOLDIER exclaimed as he immediately brought his gaze to where Cloud was pointing at. Sure enough, there was a thin line of blood trickling down from his shoulder and down the length of his arm.

"Let me see!" the blond immediately went to lift up the back of his shirt to see what damage was done. "Did you get scratch by that monster without knowing it?"

"No way!" Zack answered abruptly. "I didn't get touched by that abomination!"

"Then how did you get injured?" the cadet wondered as he managed to lift the shirt up to Zack's shoulders and had to make due with that because his shoulder guards were preventing the shirt from coming all the way off.

As he scanned the entirety of his mentor's smooth tanned back from the bottom on up, he saw nothing that could constitute as an injury. It was not until he came up to the shoulders did he spot what was causing the thin stream of blood to flow out. There was what seemed to be a cut from near the bottom of his armpit and it went straight on up to where the shoulder guard was. Actually, it looked more like something was tugged against the skin so tightly that it managed to break the skin.

"You got a wound on your shoulder, Zack," Cloud explained as he quickly healed the cut. Thankfully, it was not too bad and all that was left after the Cure spell was a barely visible scar that would heal away in a few days.

"How did it get there?" Zack wondered with raised eyebrows as he stood still for a couple of seconds and allowed the magic to do its work.

"Hey, I just noticed something. Where's your backpack full of ammo?"

"It's not on my back?" the SOLDIER asked as he quickly looked behind him and saw that the pack was indeed gone. "But I never once took it off ever since we left the security room. Where did it… Oh, so that's what happened."

"What happened, Zack?" Angeal asked as he quickly made his way to the two stationary teens. "Why are you both just standing around here?"

I just noticed that I got wounded, Angeal," the raven haired teen explained to his mentor. "I think it happened when that thing threw the pole at us. I think it managed to rip the pack off of my back just as I was going down to the floor."

"So Cloud has no more ammo?" the man asked as he managed to catch a glimpse of the small trail of blood on the teen's arm as his shirt was brought back down.

"That's pretty much it. All he has now are the bullets that are in his gun."

"So now I have to rely on my sword now, huh?" Cloud groaned as he gave a pained look at the gun in his hands.

"If we can take care of this thing quickly, then you don't have to use it. Anyway, what did you say your plan was before that monster threw the pole at us, Angeal?"

"I was thinking that we could try to combine our magic again like we did last time," the older SOLDIER explained again as they noticed the monster sifting through the same pile of debris it got the pole from for another suitable weapon. "Striking it one at a time doesn't seem to work, but putting them together seems to do the trick. However, we need to find a way to make it stunned longer."

"And how do you plan on doing that, sir?" the blond inquired as he replaced his Cure Materia for the Fire on his armlet.

"Zack, I want you to form a Blizzara spell on top of the monster. Once you do that, I want Cloud to immediately throw a Fire spell onto it and cause it to melt. I'll then use my Thundara spell and electrocute it while it's wet."

"You know, that just might work, Angeal!" Zack answered with a huge grin on his face. "Let's give it a try!"

"Alright then. Hurry up and cast your spells now while it's still rummaging through that junk pile!"

"No need to tell me twice," the young SOLDIER said as he took his Blizzara spell and aimed it right above the monster. The area soon turned chilly and a big chunk of ice began to form above the creature.

"My turn, I guess," Cloud said as he aimed his Fire spell right at the newly formed chunk of ice.

The monster, sensing the sudden change in temperature around it, looked up from its rummaging and stared at the trio, probably wondering what they were planning to do. Cloud then shot the ball of fire at the ice before it could have a chance to figure out what they were doing. The blaze made direct contact with the ice and the entire area around and below the ice started to become very misty.

"Stand back, you two," Angeal warned the two as he began to ready his Thundara spell. "Thing's are about to get a bit electrified in here."

Before the monster could even get a chance to traverse out of the misty mess it was in, a large bolt of electricity shot right through the condensation. Upon contact with the water, the entire circle of mist surrounding the creature became electrified and everything that was touched by the moisture received a terrible shock. The area had now been transformed into a gigantic man-made storm cloud with one monster screaming its ugly head off in the center of it.

"That should give us the opening we need!" Angeal said as he prepared his sword for the next phase of his plan. "We'll now wait for the electricity to dissipate before we go in and decapitate that creature limb by limb."

"Oh, won't this be a pretty thing for us to do?" Zack replied sarcastically as he gave off a look of disgust before preparing his own blade. "I guess, though, that we really have no choice here but to do that if we want to live."

"Do you think you guys might need some help from me?" Cloud asked as he, too, took the blade from his back and positioned it in his hand.

"We'll see," the older SOLDIER simply said as they waited for the electricity to die down before rushing in towards the monster.

A couple of seconds and loud ugly shrieks of pain later, the mist had evaporated and the shock had died down. Without wasting a single moment, the two SOLDIERs rushed at the monster, who was terribly stunned from receiving such a shock, and began their assault. They first severed its arms right at the shoulder joints. It once again shrieked in pain and began to panic. Now acting in self-defense, it started to move one of its legs wildly in an attempt to swat the two away. It had almost succeeded in hitting a surprised Angeal, but it fell short as a thin blade sliced through the deformed foot and the part fell onto the floor as another howl of pain reached their ears.

"I told you that you might need some help from me," Cloud stated as he quickly brought his sword back to his side and readied himself for another random move from the monster.

"Thank you, Cloud," Angeal thanked the blond cadet as he moved in and sliced the creature's other leg off. As a result, it fell to the ground with a loud thud and shook the floor in the process. It was now incapable of hurting the trio, much less even attempt to move around.

"Was this what you had in mind, Angeal?" Zack sighed out in relief as he continued to watch the shrieking monster attempt to squirm around without the help of its limbs.

"Not exactly," the man admitted as he took note that no blood was flowing out of the great wounds they had created. "I was thinking that it would have died due to the fact it lost all its limbs, but the end result still came out the same."

"Are you sure it's safe to just leave it like that?" the blond asked in a skeptical tone as he kept looking at the creature's head. "What if that mouth can do something that we don't know about yet and hurt us with it?"

"Well, that can easily be fixed," the young SOLDIER stated as he walked up next to the creature's head.

"Don't tell me you're planning on doing what I think you're doing, are you?" the cadet asked as a look of horror came across his face.

"Hey, you were the one who voiced this concern, Cloud. I'm just acting on it and making sure that it doesn't try to pull a fast one on us."

"Allow me to do it, Zack," the older SOLDIER suggested hastily just as the raven haired teen placed his sword right above the monster's neck. "You may be eighteen, but you're still too young to be doing something like this. If there's one thing I made sure to drill into your head, it's to make sure that you don't do something that'll end up scarring you for life."

For a moment, Zack just let his blade hover just mere inches above the creature's neck. In the next second, he withdrew the sword from it and started to walk away from the monster.

"Heh, I got so excited that I forgot about you teaching me that," Zack admitted with a nervous laugh as the gravity of what he was about to do suddenly came crashing down on him. "I suppose you were right about that. I…would be better off if you did that."

"Take Cloud with you and go check up on Adeus," Angeal commanded the young SOLDIER as he took his place beside the screeching monster's head. "I'll be with you shortly. Don't come over here until you hear all this loud noise silenced."

"Yes, sir," the teen nodded as he quickly backed away from the area and took Cloud with him. "Let's go check up on Adeus, Cloud."

"Alright," Cloud agreed as he forced himself to not look back and think about what Angeal was about to do to the monster. "I hope he hasn't gotten worse."

As they were walking towards the area where they remembered Angeal letting the sick cadet rest, they suddenly heard the sound of the wailing monster stop. The entire lab had grown quiet now without the pitiful cries of the creature reverberating off the walls. Without looking back, the two teens knew what had happened. They also knew that they had finally won this hellish battle and they had barely escaped with their lives. This battle against a seemingly indestructible monster was now over, and they had emerged victorious despite the terrible odds against them.


	19. Glimmer of Hope Through Hells Dark Cloud

**Chapter 18: A Glimmer of Hope Through Hell's Dark Clouds**

A couple of seconds after the abrupt silence from the monster, Zack and Cloud had arrived at the spot where Adeus was resting. He was still conscious and did not seem to be in as much pain as he was earlier, but they did notice that he was now standing against the table next to where he was sitting, his forearms propped on top of them to keep his footing. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration on trying to stay upright on his feet and his forehead was glistening with a thin line of sweat. Apparently, the strain he was putting on himself combined with his fever caused him to perspire easier than normal.

"Adeus, what do you think you're doing?" Zack asked as he quickly placed his sword onto his back and went over to the sick cadet's side and put his hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling. "You're supposed to be sitting down and trying to get some rest, not straining yourself while trying to stand with the aid of a table. You know your body's not up to doing anything right now, right?"

"Of course I know that," Adeus replied, his voice gaining back some of its strength yet still sounding hoarse and strained. "I don't want to…sit around, though, while you three are fighting for your lives. I don't like the feeling of…sitting behind and feeling useless."

"But you're still too weak to do much of anything right now, much less help us out," Cloud stated in concern as he did the same with his sword and placed a gentle hand on the cadet's back and patted it in a friendly manner. "From what we heard from Professor Hojo's own mouth, that small cut you received from the monster back in Director Lazard's office did more damage than we thought; a lot more. That one scratch is actually starting to slowly transform you into one of those damn monsters!"

"Grr, I swear that I'll kill that demented professor once I get my hands on him!" the young SOLDIER angrily declared as he gritted his teeth. "I'm going to cut him up in so many little pieces, even I won't recognize him once I'm through. I knew that he was missing a few screws in his head, but I didn't think that he would actually go so far as to kill everybody in this building. It's just so surreal!"

"And to think that President Shinra himself is also in on this, too," the blond added somewhat reluctantly. "I can't believe that he actually allowed the professor to go on with his crazy experiment, or so he calls it. I'd rather think of it as mass murder in the worst way possible."

"Hey, what's done…is done," Adeus stated in an amazingly calm fashion. "You can't change, what's already been done. Rather, you should try and…take control of what might happen next.

"Speaking of which," he shifted onto a different topic, "shouldn't you be chasing after the stupid professor…before he gets too far away? I'm sure the entire reason we're suffering this hellhole… is to just get him out of here."

"I'm pretty sure that he can wait for a little while," Zack stated as stole a quick glance at Angeal in order to see what he was doing. "I think we should be more concerned about you now."

"Heh, I thought you'd…say something along those lines, Zack," the sick cadet said as he attempted to chuckle and ended up hissing in slight pain at the action. "If you think that I'm more important right now…, then I think you better have a look…at what I found just now."

Without waiting for a response from the two, Adeus immediately picked up a piece of paper that was lying right next to his left forearm. Once he held it in his hands, he shoved it towards Cloud's direction, who took it into his hands and began to read over the contents.

"What's this supposed to be, Adeus?" he wondered as he perused the paper that looked so much like a piece of research data that Professor Hojo was probably working on some time ago. "It just looks like a piece of paper with some boring scientific stuff written in it."

"Read it…and find out for yourself," the long raven haired cadet simply said as leaned his entire weight onto the table in order to keep his footing. "I think you'll like what's…written on it."

"Alright, that's it. You're sitting down, kid," Zack stated as he peeled him off of the metal table and sat him down upright against the metal wall. "You're going to fall straight to the floor soon if you keep this up. I'm not going to just stand here and watch you strain yourself anymore than you already have. You should be resting and saving your strength."

"SOLDIER boy's right, you know?" an unfamiliar voice spoke up from behind the trio. "You're not really in the greatest of shapes to be doing much of anything besides sitting down against the wall and resting. Best to do what he says and just concentrate on trying to stay alive."

Turning their bodies around to see who was the owner of the new voice, they saw not one but two people standing side by side at about the same place where Angeal was currently standing. They had their gazes fixed on them while the older SOLDIER was looking at the two of them, his sword still in his hands.

One of the two newcomers had incredibly bright red hair that looked as if it were on fire thanks to the lighting in the lab hitting it in a certain way. It seemed highly doubtful at first glance, though, that it was his real hair color when it actually was. He donned a familiar black suit with a white undershirt and black tie complete with black pants and shoes; although his appearance seemed to indicate that he was untidy and lacked proper dress etiquette. His white shirt was slightly wrinkled and not tucked in; and his suit was not buttoned up and flapped around whenever he moved his hands in and out of his pants pockets. Basically, he looked like an unreliable person who had but a simple metal rod emitting an electrical charge at the end of it in his hands as a form of a weapon.

The other person, this one a bald man with ebony shades covering the entirety his eyes, seemed to be a lot more mature than his partner. He sported the same clothing, but it was neatly tucked in and buttoned up. There were no loose bits of clothing that ruffled at even the slightest of movements. He wielded no weapons on his body; but he did have a pair of gloves set in his side pocket. Just by taking a quick glance at them, one would have thought they were normal, everyday pieces of hand-wear. However, they were actually comfortable leather gloves meant for use in martial arts. That said, it was safe to assume that this bald man was a person who preferred to use martial arts skills in battle rather than weapons. His stoic face seemed to back up the assumption, for it did not exude any kind of emotion that he was probably thinking right now, a staple for most martial artists.

"Are you guys Turks that were called in from whatever it was you were doing to come and back us up?" Zack simply asked as he recognized who they were by their suits and the certain air they had about them.

"You got it," the flaming red head nodded with a somewhat arrogant smile as he swiftly placed his electrically charged rod, better known as his Electro-Magnetic Rod, or EMR for short, over his right shoulder while being careful not to shock himself at the same time. "I'll take a guess and say that you're Zack. Spiky blond behind you is Cloud and the sick kid's Adeus. Tseng said that we might find the three of you somewhere up here. We didn't expect that there would be another SOLDIER up here fighting along side with you, though.

"Anyway, that's enough of that," the man continued on. "Let's get on to the more important things now. The name's Reno. Make sure you don't go forgetting it. You never know when you might need to call on me for help."

"…Rude," the bald man introduced himself in a simple stoic tone as he gave a barely noticeable glance at his partner's cocky behavior. "…We were both sent here by Tseng under the pretense that the Shinra building was in danger, according to the reports that you, Zack, gave him when he last called you. Naturally, we rushed over here as soon as we heard those words."

"They said that they arrived here not ten minutes ago," Angeal, who had soon rejoined the trio next to the wall and placed his sword over his main one, stated. "Apparently, they came from downstairs and came up here through the elevator and the ladder we used to traverse between the 66th and 67th floor."

"And I'm telling you, it was a complete challenge just to get all the way up here," Reno said as he shook his head a bit. "Just to get to the elevator on the first floor was a complete headache. And then the stairwell that leads to up here was being patrolled by a stupid monster that we somehow managed to pummel into oblivion before it had the chance to do so with us. I've never seen anything as crazy as the things in here before in my entire career as a Turk."

"…The entire first floor was overrun by the walking dead, or as you probably more accustomed to saying and hearing, zombies," Rude stated plainly as he began to examine the room with his eyes still hiding behind his shades. "There were no living people to be found within the entirety of the floor. We barely managed to get past them and into the elevator up to the 60th floor unscathed. That itself is a miracle, considering the immense numbers there."

"Th-the entire first floor is overrun with zombies?" Zack repeated as his eyes widened a bit with shock.

"That and a couple of freaky-looking monsters with a blade for an arm were roaming around and walking along the walls, too," the red head added in a nonchalant fashion as he began to examine the lifeless monster that was in the room and disposed of not too long ago by the trio. "It looks as though there are a couple of these things all the way up here, as well. It seems like you three managed to handle your end of the line pretty well."

"Uh, not exactly, sir," Cloud stated hesitantly as he put down the paper in his hands and left it on the table without even once reading it this whole time. "This thing was a headache to try and kill. In fact, it almost killed us in the process."

"…I figured as much," the bald man blandly stated as he walked over to the same table where the paper was just placed and took it into his hands to read over. "A few bullet holes on parts of the body that should have proven fatal, beads of sweat falling from your brows, a big metal pole lying on the floor across the room in accompaniment with a rather large dent in the wall; it looks as though it refused to go down despite the punishment you tried to deal it."

"I must admit that it was a miracle that we managed to take the creature down," Angeal admitted with a sigh as he pulled a piece of sweat-drenched hair out of his eyes. "It was near impossible for a moment to even get near it, what with it brandishing its big pole around and trying to hit us."

"Don't forget that it nearly skinned my back by throwing that thing at us," the young SOLDIER added as he shuddered at the memory. "I was lucky that it only tore the ammo pack right off of my back. The strap dug into and broke my skin because of that, but I suppose it's better than being injured by the monster itself."

"Anything is better than that," Adeus said as he took a deep breath. "Trust me on this. I should know."

"…Anyway, I think we should move onto a different and more important topic," Rude stated as he looked up at the group from the paper he was reading. "It seems as though this piece of paper holds the key to the very problem that's on your hands right now. Namely, the sick cadet himself over there."

"What does that have to do with Adeus, Rude?" Angeal asked as his brown eyes reflected his confusion.

"It has to do with him surviving the ordeal he's going through, of course," he bald man explained. "It seems as though Professor Hojo was afraid of being attacked by his very own creations, despite having put some of his cells into them to prevent them from doing so in the first place."

"Wait a minute, how do you know about that?" the young SOLDIER asked as he raised an eyebrow at this. "The three of us didn't even know what was up with all this monster business until we approached the professor and had him tell us about it. How is it that you already know about it before us?"

"Well, unlike you, we already had a slight idea about what the good professor was thinking about," Reno said as he took the paper from Rude's hands and began to read it for himself. "And before you go about asking us how we got to that information, we're Turks. It's our business to know about certain things that certain people don't want others to know. Of course, just because we had an idea didn't constitute us being able to confront the professor. We could only wait for him to make one wrong move before we could act on our findings."

"…Unfortunately, that one wrong move just happened to have taken place here inside the Shinra Headquarters, of all places," Rude continued on. "Now we need to find the professor, get him to tell us everything he knows about all this, and have him tell us how to stop all this from getting any worse than it already is. So far, this entire incident has been concealed within this building. It's only a matter of time, though, until that is to change and all of Midgar will be destroyed. It's not too far of a stretch that these monsters would then span all across Gaia and kill everything in their way until there's nothing left to kill."

"So that's why Tseng ordered us to find him and escort him out of here alive," Zack said in realization as the two Turks finished their explanation. "You need him in order to find some kind of way to fix this hellhole. If he's dead, then there's probably no way for this place to be even remotely salvageable."

"Now you're getting it," Reno said as he tapped his temple with his free hand and looked up from the paper over to the group. "Of course, you may be wondering why we need him in person rather than snooping through all of his research for the answers. Well, that's just not going to work. You see, Hojo is the kind of guy who likes to keep all this kind of stuff up in his head where nobody else can get to it. The only reason he would ever record something was if it held great importance to him; so much so that he can't risk keeping it locked in his head and running the risk of forgetting it. This piece of paper here is a prime example of that."

"Just what is on that piece of paper, anyway?" Cloud asked as he eyed the blank backside of the sheet. "I was just about to go over the contents until you guys just suddenly appeared."

"…Well, why don't you read it for yourself now and find out?" the bald man said as he passed on the paper to the blond, who accepted it and held it tightly in his hands. "I'm sure you'll find it to be quite interesting and enlightening, if not a total relief to your current fears."

With the research paper back into his hands again after being passed around from person to person, Cloud began to read over the contents of the paper. Curious as to what was on it and not willing to wait for his turn to hold the paper, Zack opted to read from behind the cadet and over his shoulders, a feat that was easily achieved due to him being the taller of the two. Angeal also looked at the paper with the other two, although he chose to do it in a more polite fashion and just looked on from beside the young teen rather than from behind like the other SOLDIER was doing. Together, they read what was written on the piece of paper:

_It is almost time for me to initiate my little experiment,_ the report started out. _I have the permission of President Shinra to go on ahead with it. However, I am concerned about how things could possibly end up. Even though I have taken the extra step and made sure all of these beautiful creatures have been implanted with a small portion of my cells, there is still no guarantee that they will not attack me, whether intentionally or unintentionally. If that were to happen, then I shall soon turn into one of my own creations, and I cannot have that happen to me. After all, who else would there be who knows about my research and add on to it?_

_By stating my concern, it is obvious that I must find a way to counteract the effects of the transformation process for when I have been inflicted a wound by my creatures posthaste. Fortunately, I have been working on such a cure for awhile now. I have an idea as to how it should be created and what is needed in order to make such a thing. Unfortunately, all of my attempts at creating such a cure have been nothing more than duds at best. I have tried out almost every single combination I can think of, and I still have not come up with any luck._

_However, I do know that in order to create this cure, four components must be present for its creation. The four components are: The cells from any kind of zombie, although a live one would be preferable; the cells from the blade creatures I have come to call the "Demon Scythe"; the cells from the prototype monster, codenamed "DM-003", that has yet to see the light of day; and a syringe full of Mako. I know for certain that these are the four components that can create the cure and prevent myself from transforming after suffering a small wound from these creatures._

_As I said earlier, though, I have yet to come up with a solution yet. I have tried almost every kind of combination possible with these four ingredients and have come up unsuccessful. The only two that I have yet to try are the scythe-zombie-DM-Mako and the DM-scythe-zombie-Mako combinations. I never would have thought that the order they were introduced to each other would be such a great factor in the creation of this cure. I never imagined it to be this complicated._

_Oh well, I still have until tomorrow until I set my little experiment into motion. In that case, I shall try to use the first combination today and see if it produces the desired effects. If it does not, then I know for sure that the second combination is the one that will produce the cure. I do hope, though, that I do not have to end up using this on myself. I rather that things go smoothly rather than becoming complicated. At least I know that if the combination ends up turning into a liquid that is as clear as water, then I know I have what I want._

_Speaking of complicated, the SOLDIER, 1__st__ Class General came up to my office late yesterday evening saying that he had something important to discuss with me. I never thought that Sephiroth would have…_

"Hey, did he just write down about meeting Sephiroth a couple of days ago?" Zack wondered as they read the last sentence that was abruptly cut off. "I wonder what they were talking about that was so complicated?"

"That isn't our business to know, pup," Angeal said as he moved from his position beside Cloud and began to think about the contents of the report. "Rather, we should be thinking about trying to find a way to make that cure for Adeus. This report said something about gathering four essential components that will create the cure once combined in a certain order."

"But then which order should they be placed in so that it'll come out right?" the blond asked as he put the research paper back down onto the metal table. "He only stated the two possibilities that he hasn't tried out for himself on here yet. I don't think that we really have the time to make two different types and see which one works. Besides, we don't even know what will happen if we give Adeus the wrong one."

"I don't think that will be much of a problem here," Reno said with a cocky smile. "After all, the professor did mention that the cure should end up having the appearance of clear water if done correctly. Since we know that, I'm sure that it's okay for us to take some time in gathering two of each component and creating the two different concoctions in order to see which one ends up being the right one for the kid."

"…Then the only problem with this entire thing is to find the four components before your cadet turns into one of them," Rude stated as he walked towards the prototype monster lying limbless on the floor. "That and we should find said components without being killed by the creatures. With that said, we should come up with a plan as to who does what. We can't all just go searching for the components while Professor Hojo is still loose in this building. Don't forget that we still need him in order to try and put an end to this hell."

"Then how about the three of us go and follow the professor up to the 68th floor lab while you two go and search for the four components to the cure?" Zack suggested. "I think it's best if we went on like that. Besides, I'm tired with fighting all these living dead creatures and killer monsters. I think it should be you two's turn to go fighting these things in here. I mean, it's only fair that you go into the fires of Hell since we've already been in their ourselves."

"Uh, then wouldn't it be ideal if we went and got the stuff?" Cloud asked with a raised eyebrow. "The way you phrased it, it sounds like that would be suggesting the three of us go and get the stuff, not the other way around."

"You got to admit, the kid's right on that," the red head agreed with a shrug. "That's what it sounded like you said. Although I did manage to understand what you were trying to say. Alright then, you three go on ahead and look for the professor. Rude and I'll go ahead and look for the stuff needed to make the cure."

"…Actually, I think that you should go look for the things, Reno, while I stay behind here in the lab," Rude stated stoically as he stared at his partner from behind his ebony shades.

"Wh-why would you want to do that, man? It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense that you would want to stay behind all by yourself for no reason at all except to just hide out within the safety of this lab."

"I see what he's thinking," Angeal spoke up as he shifted his gaze between Adeus and Rude. "He's planning on staying here in the lab so he can keep a watchful eye on Adeus. That way, he'll be able to help him out and protect him should any zombies or monsters manage to make their way here. Isn't that right, Rude?"

"…That is correct," the bald man confirmed. "If everybody is to leave this area, then at least one person must stay behind and look after the sick cadet. It wouldn't do to go through all the trouble of finding a cure and to come back and find him killed by a monster or zombie."

"As always, you have to be Mr. Right in situations like this, don't you Rude?" Reno asked sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at his partner. "So I'm guessing that you want me to go scavenging about in this damn place looking for the four things we need to make the cure, right?"

…"Actually, three should suffice. After all, Mako should be readily available here in this lab. In fact, I happened to stumble upon a few right next to the entrance to this lab. That and the prototype monster is in here. So in actuality, you only need to find two things; the zombie and Demon Scythe cells. Go now and don't get yourself killed in the process."

"Heh, easier said than done, Rude. I'd like to see you try all this and then warn me about not getting killed in here."

"…In case you've already forgotten, I've already faced nearly getting killed just trying to get up here; so I know what you're up against here. The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can come back here to relative safety. Just think of it that way and you'll be fine."

"Uh, I don't mean to break up this buddy-buddy moment," Zack interrupted as he cleared his throat, "but shouldn't we be getting our plan underway now? The longer we stay here, the further away Professor Hojo is going to be from us. That and Adeus's chances for survival are going down the more time we waste here?"

"Zack's right," Cloud agreed with the young SOLDIER as he took his sword from his back, preparing it for battle since he now had to use what little ammo he had in his gun sparingly now that the ammo supply was gone. "We need to get this over with as soon as possible, for all of our sakes; especially Adeus's."

"Then we should get going," Angeal said in a commanding tone as he started to make his way to the elevator in the back of the room that Hojo used earlier. "Even though we've wasted a lot of time here, I doubt that the professor could have gone far. After all, the only possible way he could have went is up, and this building stops at the 70th floor; President Shinra's floor. He has nowhere else to go to lest he goes down the stairwell, although I doubt he's done so for he would have ran into the Turks had he done so."

"Alright," the spiky raven haired SOLDIER said as he and the blond began to follow the older SOLDIER. "Just hang tight for a little while longer, Adeus. I promise you, those two Turks will take care of you."

"Don't worry too much…about me, Zack," Adeus said as he gave a small smile. "Just make sure you look out for yourselves up there. When you find Hojo, make sure…you try and smack him one for me."

"Will do. In return, you hang on until they manage to make the cure for you."

I will," he promised with a nod.

"…Go now, everybody," Rude commanded everybody in the lab. "Time is running out and we need to finish this."

With that said, everybody started to move out to where they were supposed to be going. Reno exited the lab and began his dangerous search for the zombies and Demon Scythes; Zack, Cloud, and Angeal headed towards the elevator at the back of the lab and began to follow the runaway professor in hopes of catching up and capturing him before he does anything else that might jeopardize the safety of not only them, but that of Midgar and the entirety of Gaia as well.


	20. Pursuing The Mad Scientist

**Chapter 19: Pursuing The Mad Scientist**

"I'm guessing that we're getting close to the end of our mission in here, right?" Zack asked as he, Cloud, and Angeal waited patiently for the elevator to come down to their floor.

"I find that to hardly be the case here, Pup," Angeal answered with a small sigh as the rattling sound of the elevator coming down reached their ears. "I'd rather think of this as just the as the start of the real mission. We've been through so much trouble just to get up here and to the professor. Having him run away from us and having to play catch-up with him is only the trigger point that begins the true crux of this mission. I half-expected him to run like he did when we started to talk to him and gain some valuable information from him; I didn't expect to fall so far behind because of his monster deciding to break out of its confides and attack us when it did."

"Hey, at least we managed to take care of it before it took care of us," Cloud said with a small grunt as the doors opened and the trio began to squeeze their way into the small room. "Even though the professor ended up sliding away from our grasps, I think that counts for something to our mission here."

"Oh sure, if it counts for nearly being killed countless times by the same monster within a matter of minutes, then yes," the spiky raven haired teen answered sarcastically. "I mean, that was the toughest thing I have ever faced in my entire life here in Shinra. That and it was too damn smart for a regular monster. Then again, it was manufactured by that crazy scientist and held in that machine of his for Gaia knows how long, so it was anything but normal.

"Anyway, after all this craziness is over," he continued on as the doors closed and they started to slowly move upwards, "I think I'll just sever my ties with the Shinra Company and get as far away as I can from Midgar. I don't want to have anything to do with a company that has a boss who so willingly puts up all of his staff and army members just for the sake of seeing an experiment and have no remorse over it whatsoever. That's just totally inhumane and sick."

"And I shall follow suit," the older SOLDIER agreed with the younger teen. "When I signed up to be a part of this army a few years ago, I did not plan on actually working for a president who has no regard for his company's people. Then again, this is the first time I've ever heard of him doing something like. I don't know if he's done other things as bad as this, but I don't practically care much about it at this point. Either way, I refuse to work for a person who wants to use such weapons against people and kill his own employees all for the sake of seeing how well they fare in a battle situation. I don't like working for people who have no regard for their honor and just haphazardly throw it away into the wind."

"I just joined this army so I can get stronger and have a chance to explore the world a bit," the blond stated with a sigh. "I was kind of expecting to fight monsters sometime during my employment here; I didn't think, though, that I would be doing that so soon or that the president, whom I'm working for here, would have such a dark side to him. I'm definitely leaving this place once we're done here and go back home to Nibelheim. No amount of coaxing is going to sway me on this. My life is more important than to try and defend a man who doesn't seem to care about anybody's life except his own. I don't even care if they decide to give me some sort of promotion after this; I'm gone and that's that."

"Well, at least we're all in agreement on what we're going to do after we're done with this mission and escape this hellhole," the young SOLDIER said. "That's such a backwater name, though," he added with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, well it's not as though Gongaga sounds any better than Nibelheim. That sounds even more backwater than my place."

"Well, that's what happens when we're born as country boys; you come from places with backwater names. Anyway, what about you, Angeal? Are you going to go back to your hometown?"

"Did you forget already, pup?" Angeal asked as the elevator started to slow down a bit and prepare for its stop. "My hometown was destroyed by a large group of bandits on the same year I first started out here as a grunt. Banora is no longer a part of the map because of that."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Zack slowly said in an apologetic tone. "Sorry for bringing it back up."

"It's alright," the older SOLDIER answered just as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "I'll just find a new place to settle down in. Besides, I've always wanted to try my hand at living in Gongaga ever since I first went there on a recon mission. Maybe you can take me there once this is all over?"

"Are you trying to keep tabs on me and keep me training even though we'll be out of the army?"

"You know, I never thought about that until you brought it up. That sounds like a good idea, pup."

"Uh, I don't mean to barge into you two's conversation," Cloud politely interrupted as he exited the elevator first, "but we're here on the 68th floor now. I think now would be a good time to get going before we lose Professor Hojo."

"True enough," Angeal sighed as he exited the elevator next, followed closely behind by Zack. "It's time we restart our mission and get it over with."

"Just one more thing, though, before we get all serious here," Zack said as the doors closed behind him. "You know that both Gongaga and Nibelheim are about the same distance away from Cosmo Canyon, right Cloud?"

"They are?" the blond asked as he turned around to look at the young SOLDIER. "I never knew that."

"Yeah, well that's true. I kind of figured that out a couple of months ago. I was curious as to where it was that you lived and did some research. That's when I figured out that you lived next to the Nibel Mountains. I used to be able to see them whenever I went to the canyon when I was younger with my parents."

Hey, now that you mention it, I do remember going to Cosmo Canyon from time to time with my mom to get a few things. You said that Gongaga was surrounded by a small forest with a single mountain nearby, right? I think I remember being able to see some smoke coming from inside the forest. I used to wonder about how anyone could live in such a place?"

"Hey, we're not so bad off that we can't support ourselves as a community. I still can't believe, though, that we could have run into each other in Cosmo Canyon all this time and not know of it until now."

"As much as I would like to have you two continue on with your conversation," Angeal intervened in a somewhat serious tone, "I think it's time we started on our way again. After all, it was you, Cloud, who said that we should start looking for Hojo while he's still nearby."

"Y-yes sir, I'm sorry," the cadet apologized as he took a deep breath and immediately took on a serious demeanor. "I didn't mean to get us off track."

"You know, you could also stop calling me 'sir', you know that?" the older SOLDIER added with a small grin as they started to walk down the great big open space that was before them in the 68th floor lab. "I think the time for formalities has long since gone away in here. After all, I think we all already admitted to each other that we're going to resign from our respective posts here. Therefore, you can just call me 'Angeal' from here on out, Cloud."

"Y-yes sir… I mean, Angeal," the blond answered as he tried to get used to addressing his superior in such a casual fashion.

"Oh, it shouldn't be that hard to do, Cloud," Zack said as they continued on down the large open area. "After all, you've address me in such a casual fashion for a while now. It should be easy for you to address him like that."

"That's because you're different from the other people in SOLDIER. You're more laid back and we, as cadets, can approach you easily whenever there's something important that we need to discuss to a higher-up."

"That and you sometimes lack the proper attitude for a SOLDIER," Angeal added with a small smirk. "Then again, that's what makes you into who you are in here.

"Anyway, we really should be getting serious now. We need to find Hojo and get him to the Turks so they can figure out a way to clean up this mess he created. He could be anywhere, though; so we'll have to keep our eyes open for him. Don't slack off here, you two."

"Yes, sir!" the two answered. "We'll be careful here."

"Hmm, old habits die hard, don't they?" the older man said as his smirk grew into a smile at how they formally addressed him. "You know I said that you can address me normally from here on out. Then again, it'll take some time to retrain your minds to do so. Anyway, we should search this area thoroughly before we move on."

"Okay and where exactly is it that you want us to start searching for the crazy professor first?" the young SOLDIER asked sarcastically as he brought his arm out and waved it around the open space in front of them. "The last time I saw this room, which was now, there's not even a single thing here that he could possibly hide behind."

And he was right on that. The entire room was, for the most part, empty except for a few tables and a large see-through tube-like machine near the edge of the wall to the right of them. On the top of the machine were the words "Specimen Transport Elevator". Beside it was a table with a couple of computers and a folder sitting neatly on top of the monitor. To the back end of the room towards the left was a hallway that seemed to lead out of the lab and deeper into the 68th floor.

"I know that there's no possible way that he's hiding in this lab, Pup," Angeal said as he shook his head a bit while heading for the hallway. "What I meant was that we should search this entire floor as well as possible. If he's not here, then he should be on the 69th floor. I highly doubt that he's on the president's floor. He shouldn't have access to it, despite the ties he has with him on this incident."

"But wouldn't there still be a chance of that being the case?" Cloud asked as they approached the turn into the new hallway. "What if President Shinra gave him a card for the sole purpose of conversing with him in private and relative safety? Being that they're both in cahoots with this, it's not so much of a stretch to think that."

"It's still highly unlikely," Zack answered before his mentor could get a chance to do so. "The president doesn't just give out access cards to his floor to anyone. The only people he'd ever give them to are the Turk members and the people he truly trusts. He may trust the professor, but I doubt he trusts him that much."

"Hmm, point taken," the blond said as he let his line of logic go and the trio proceeded to cautiously walk down the new hallway while keeping their eyes and ears open for any suspicious things. "I didn't think of it that way. Then again, he's probably not even sure if he can be sure that Hojo won't end up putting one of his monsters against him and kill him."

"Even more reason why he shouldn't have an access card," Angeal stated as they continued down the long stretch of hall without passing by a single door. "That would mean that we have him cornered up here. His only way to escape right past us without us knowing is through the elevator and that's destroyed. We'll get a hold of him sooner or later; he's just delaying the inevitable by running away from us."

For the next minute or so, the trio continued cautiously down the hallway in relative silence. Throughout the entire trek, they did not pass by a single door. Apparently, this floor was supposed to be only a lab room; one room that was connected to another room by a simple hallway that offered no detours. At the end of the hallway, which is where they had entered now, was a set of stairs that was nicely carpeted in red velvet.

"I suppose that this leads to the 69th floor," Zack speculated as they stopped right at the foot of the stairs. "Apparently, that's where the professor decided to run off to. He must have been in a rush, too, for he practically left the door open for us to go through."

"We're getting closer," Angeal admitted with a small nod. "That man has nowhere else to run to. It's time that we go capture him and bring him to the Turks, as they so ordered us to do."

"Do you think that there are monsters on the last two floors?" Cloud asked as he bit his lip a bit.

"I doubt that it's going to be getting any easier when we confront the crazy man," the spiky raven haired teen replied with a weary sigh. "Although I hope there aren't any up there. If there are, then that means the president is in danger. Even though he's a part of this entire problem, or so Hojo said at least, I don't think it would be good if the president went and died on us."

"Of course it wouldn't be good if he passed on because of this," Angeal said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The president is the one man who single-handedly runs this company, with occasional help from the Turks. He controls how everything is run and where the money primarily goes to. He's the man who regulates everything within the company, including the army, and controls the things going outside of the company that is under his control. Basically, he's the unofficial ruler of most of Gaia. I can imagine a few towns being happy at his death, but some might choose to undergo utter discord if he passes away. This is certainly something that we want to avoid."

"Jeez, I knew that the president had great influence over many parts of Gaia," the blond said in awe as he raised his eyebrows in amazement. "I didn't think that he had _that_ much influence. Can things in certain towns governed by Shinra really get out of hand so easily because of his death?"

"I wouldn't let the idea of it happening slip my mind. Then again, the towns I'm talking about are places that have high anti-Shinra sentiment running through it, so my views on it could be somewhat biased."

"Well, let me tell you something then," the cadet said as he brought his gaze towards the top of the stairs. "Nibelheim will definitely be happy if the president dies. We're tired of his constant watch over our town and trying to regulate the way we live our lives. We're simple country people, yet he seems intent on trying to 'revolutionize' us, or so his executives he brings over every now and then say."

"Wait a minute," Zack interrupted. "Nibelheim isn't classified as an anti-Shinra town."

"Of course it isn't. Everybody in town always made sure to behave whenever they come and visit us. That way, they won't know of our true intentions and we'll be hiding right under their radar."

"You live in quite a well-connected town, don't you?" Angeal asked in an amused tone. "It takes a lot of communication and cooperation to organize such a farce that can trick the Shinra executives."

"If what you're saying is true, then why are you even here at Midgar in the first place, Cloud?" the raven teen asked, starting to feel a bit confused as he started to walk up the stairs to the next floor. "Why are you working as a part of the Shinra army when you live in a town that has anti-Shinra sentiments floating around in it? That doesn't make any sense."

"I thought I already told you why I'm here. I'm here because I like to travel to different parts of Gaia and visit different towns. This has nothing to do with me wanting to swear loyalty to the Shinra army and all that jazz."

"Then what about me?" the young SOLDIER asked as he stopped halfway up and turned around. "I am, or was, a part of the Shinra army. Does that mean you only pretended to be my friend this whole time?"

"Oh, don't be silly Zack," Cloud assured him as he walked up to the teen and patted him friendly on the shoulder. "You happen to be the exception to that; along with Adeus and Angeal, of course. You three are literally the greatest things that have happened to me since I came here. I don't know what I would've done around here if I never met you all."

"Really?" Zack asked his entire demeanor changed to that of a very excited puppy. "I'm one of the greatest things in your life?"

"P-pretty much," the blond replied with a slight blush grazing his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.

"Alright, that's enough reminiscing and self-embarrassment here," Angeal stated as he cleared his throat to gain the two's attention as he walked past them. "Don't forget that we have an important job to do here. We really must stop getting sidetracked on every little thing that crosses our minds in here. It's much too dangerous to be doing that so frequently as we have been doing for the past few minutes."

"H-hey, wait for us, Angeal!" Zack called out to his mentor as he began to speed-walk up the stairs in an attempt to catch up to his mentor. "We didn't mean to be keeping our guards down repeatedly."

"Quiet!" the older SOLDIER hushed him as he turned around suddenly and gave the teen a stern look, causing him to nearly collide right into him. "I'm not kidding when I say this, this time; it's time that we got serious. The professor can be nearby. I admit that I let my guard down a few times in here along with you two, but now is the time to be on the alert. Anything can happen at any given moment. So be serious."

"Oh, alright. But could you at least act a little bit more calm while being serious at the same time? Surely, it wouldn't hurt for you to do that just a little bit."

"…Alright, I'll try to do that," came the unexpected reply as the older man continued on up the stairs, leaving behind a shocked Zack and a young cadet stifling chuckles at said SOLDIER's reaction.

"I guess you weren't really expecting that answer from him, were you?" the blond said as he walked slowly past the teen.

"Uh, I wasn't," the SOLDIER dumbly replied. "I was thinking he was going to say something else besides that. He never agrees with me whenever I suggest something like that."

"Well, there's always got to be a first for everything. Come on, Zack; you don't want to end up falling behind, do you?"

"H-hey, don't you dare think about leaving me behind! If I end up dying here because of you two leaving me here, I'm going to haunt you both as a spirit until the day you both die."

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up already. Don't forget that Angeal said that you had to be quiet, like me," Cloud added in a slight whisper.

Instead of giving another retort, Zack just simply walked up the stairs quietly while sporting a childish pout. He walked by the blond, who had stopped higher up at the stairs, without saying a word, pretending that he was angry with him. But Cloud knew better; he knew that the SOLDIER was just playing around and that he really was not angry with him. Cloud just simply smiled back at him before proceeding up the stairs right behind him.

Oh well, at least they were as serious as they were going to get in here. Hopefully, that was going to be enough to help them get through the next set of trials that are surely just behind the next corner; or in this case, right at the end of this set of stairs.


	21. The Secret Meeting

**Chapter 20: The Secret Meeting**

When they had reached the top of the stairs, the trio was surprised at what was laid out in front of their path. Apart from all of the other floors they have passed through just to get up here, this one was relatively neat and devoid of any monsters, or signs thereof of any that have once existed or are even on this floor. The floors themselves were spotless and well-polished, so much so that they practically reflected anybody and anything that walked across its clean and slippery surface. Even the windows that doubled up as glass walls were well cleaned and easily reflected whatever was in front of it as if it were a regular mirror.

A little ways beyond their position at the stairs was a wall with a single door at the center of it and a reception window on each side of it. That was where the red carpet, which was still extending beyond the steps and onto the 69th floor in a neat set path, led to. Written across the door in fresh bold letters that seemed to exude power was, "President Shinra's Office: Authorized Personnel and Invited Guests Beyond This Point Only". Surprisingly, the entire message was able to fit on a standard size placard and still end up being legible, even from a distance. It was truly written with great power and strength in mind.

"It's amazing how close we are to the president yet so far away at the same time," Zack said in a quiet tone as they continued to scan their surroundings. "He's just behind that door that leads to the last floor, aka his private office, and we can't even go through to confront him about this entire mess and his involvement with it. It's pretty frustrating, if you ask me."

"Yet our main priority at this time is to find and capture, which I think is a fitting renaming for this mission, the runaway professor," Angeal reminded the SOLDIER teen. "Once we bring him into the Turk's custody and tell them everything he told us, then they can take care of the president themselves. For now, though, we should only concern ourselves in finding Hojo."

"Do you really think that we'll be able to find him hiding out somewhere on this floor, Angeal?" Cloud asked as he, too, was scanning the entire floor for any subtle signs of the professor. "I still think it's possible he managed to get onto the president's personal floor."

"I'm more than positive on that, Cloud," the older SOLDIER stated. "Unless he just happened to meet someone up here and that person just happens to have access to the president's floor, we'll definitely be able to find him on this floor. I don't have any doubts on that."

"What are the chances that he's even up here talking with someone?" the SOLDIER teen wondered. "I'm pretty sure everybody's already evacuated this building, with the exception of the president whose sitting within the safety of his own office watching this entire thing unfold. If you ask me, he's probably just hiding out somewhere in here and is just waiting for his chance to give us the slip while we're not really paying attention."

"Then we'll just have to keep a watchful eye out for him and make sure to not give him the chance to do so," the blond stated as he gave a quick smile to his mentor, who flashed him one of his trademark big grins that could easily pass as an act of cockiness in one did not know him too well. "If we make sure to do that, then we should have no problem catching him."

A couple of seconds later, they heard a couple of faint voices talking to each other coming from a designated waiting area that was blocked off from their view by a few tall houseplants and support pillar. They sounded relatively calm, despite the things that were going around just a couple of floors down and lower. It sounded as though they were having some kind of important conversation for they were talking in hushed voices; so hushed that even Angeal and Zack could not make out what was said without having to get closer.

"Who would be up here talking so calmly and privately at a time like this?" Cloud wondered as he tried to strain his ears to pick up what was being said. "Do they have a death wish here or something?"

"I really don't know," Zack admitted quietly as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "But I think one of those voices belongs to the professor himself. He may be talking so quiet that I can't make out his words, but I can still make out the way his voice sounds like."

"That's definitely Hojo talking there," Angeal confirmed with a nod of his head. "The question now is who is he talking to in such a calm and private manner? We're pretty much right behind his sorry tail and he's still acting pretty calm."

"Maybe we should try and get closer so we can figure out who he's talking to and what they're talking about?" the blond suggested as he started to creep silently towards the plants while being careful not to slip on the slippery waxed floor in the process, thus causing their cover to be blown.

"Uh, how about you stay a few paces behind us instead while Angeal and I try to get closer to them?" the spiky raven haired SOLDIER added hastily as he put a hand on the cadet's shoulder. "I think that would be the safer alternative than having you come with us and get caught up in a mess you can't get out of."

"You know, you're probably right on that. Alright then, you two go on ahead and try to listen to what he's talking about with the other person while I stay back here and run the risk of being killed by a monster or bitten by a zombie while I'm all on my own here."

"Good, then just stay here and... Hey, that's not what I'm suggesting at all, you crazy Chocobo!"

"Fine, you can come with us, Cloud," Angeal conceded without leaving any room for debate. "Just make sure that you keep your focus on the mission and around you at all times. Understood?"

"Yes, Angeal," the blond agreed to the terms as the man began to stealthily approach the waiting area. He then said with a triumphant grin, "Well, it looks like I'll be able to come with you guys, after all Zack."

"Oh, whatever, Spiky," Zack replied with a roll of his eyes, using the nicknames he gave Cloud in a teasing manner. "You only won him over using the 'I'm-going-to-die-if-you-leave-me-here' act in a sugar-coated form."

"And I kind of learned that from you, Zack."

"Yeah, well... That's supposed to be only for me to use on Angeal."

Before allowing the cadet to respond, the young SOLDIER quickly, but quietly, caught up to Angeal, who had taken up position just a few feet from the tall plants. Cloud followed suit and joined up with the two.

Once they were in position, they were able to see past a few breaks in the branches, although it was not so much that the professor and whoever he was talking to would be able to see them if they happened to stare at the plants. through the breaks, they were able to see the familiar white coat of Professor Hojo. The tips of his feet were pointed towards his left; a clear indication that whoever he was talking to was standing on his left. As they turned their gaze to see who the second person was, they saw that the pillar impeded their view. The man was standing just behind the pillar, hidden well from their view. They silently cursed their luck and just settled for listening to the conversation that was taking place.

"I suppose that you find my experiment well-made," the professor's voice said to the person he was talking to. "The monsters seem strong enough to be put into the field of battle alongside with the other SOLDIERs."

"I must admit that they do seem to pose quite a challenge to even the most seasoned of veterans," the second person, whose voice was still too soft to really discern yet loud enough to be heard, said in a thoughtful tone. "However, there is something that I must ask of you before I can give you my honest opinion on the matter."

"And what might that be?" Hojo inquired. "What must I answer in return for your answer to my experiment?"

"Oh, it's nothing too serious, I assure you my good Professor Hojo," the second person said in a cool and calm tone. "All I want to know is if the creatures are capable enough to tell the difference between their human allies and their foes. From what I have seen, they only seem to be concerned with finding their next closest prey and don't attack each other."

"I really don't see how that would be of much concern at all, my good sir. These creatures were only created to attack the enemy and turn other living beings into them. Basically, they are meant to be weapons and a means to produce more weapons in order to become even stronger in both strength and number."

"If that is your answer to my question, then I feel I must give you an answer just as poor and not to your expectations. I see these creatures more as a casualty to the men more than weapons of war and chaos. I clearly do not see much point in enlisting them as a usable weapon of sorts."

"H-how could you say that?! These creations were built to be the perfect and ultimate weapon for the Shinra Company! If not for war, then perhaps they would be better suited as a playing card of sorts for whenever a deal is too good to resist yet there are some resistance in the way. We could be able to use this as a trump card in order to allow the company to get what it wants."

"…I believe I can see that being a great possibility for them," the mysterious man answered after a moment of silence. "A bargaining tool of sorts meant to aid the company in deals just out of their reach… That sounds like a good way to use these monsters. All it would take to seal a deal is to let loose a couple of the creatures upon the people and show them the threat upon them should they continue to refuse. I believe that would wash over very well with President Shinra."

_This guy talking isn't President Shinra?_ Zack thought as he nearly forgot to keep his mouth shut and had it clamped by Angeal's quick hands. _Then who is it? God, his voice is so muffled; I can barely make out what he's even saying._

_A bargaining chip meant for use in deals that don't end in their favor?_ Cloud thought as his eyes widen in shock. _That's practically terrorism! We can't let that happen! We have to get that professor as quickly as possible before he creates more of those things and wreaks more havoc!_

_Is Hojo really that content in having his creatures be accepted into Shinra for some kind of use?_ Angeal thought as he kept his hand over Zack's mouth, who was lightly squirming around in protest. _Surely, he knows the complications that would arise if these things are free to roam all over Gaia! Plus, who is this person he's talking to? I can't really hear the main tone of his voice, but his way of speech sounds deathly familiar to me._

"Then I believe it's settled then!" Hojo stated happily as he gave off a very creepy laugh that sent chills down the trios' spines. "Will you allow me to go and see the president and relay to him the plans I have for the monsters? I believe that he's already had his fill at watching my dear creations perform the most wondrous of shows for him. I'm sure he'll eagerly agree to having them be used as bargaining tools for the stubborn and the foolish."

"I suppose you have proved your claim about these creatures of death," the mysterious man answered as they heard his footsteps walking towards where they knew the door to the president's office to be at. "Very well, you may go and see President Shinra. I trust that I need not remind you to watch your tongue when in front of his presence, right?"

"Oh, you need not bother me with such trifling matters," the insane man stated as he followed the other man to the door. "I'm the only person on this entire planet that knows about how these creatures work. He wouldn't dare throw me out or kill me if he knows what's good for him."

"All the same, I suggest you choose your words carefully in front of him. I would hate to see you storming back down here after hearing your plans be rejected simply because of your attitude."

"Heh, heh, heh!" the professor laughed in his creepy way. "You 'suggest' that I choose my words carefully? Who are you to 'suggest' to me on what I can and can't do? You are not my superior the last time I checked. You do not hold any real authority over me. You're just a simple high ranking member of SOLDIER who the president holds high trust for; so much so that he even bestows upon you the keycard to the front doors of his very office."

Upon hearing this remark, all three hiding behind the bush became wide-eyed and began to look at each other in complete shock. They were all thinking the same thought: _This person is a member of SOLDIER?!_

"…Humph, I see my advice shall fall upon deaf ears," the acknowledged SOLDIER said in his same cool, calm voice. "I wish you, then, all the luck in winning over the president with your plans."

"Oh, I do not need luck, my dear sir. All I need is the facts and the shocked mindset the president is no doubt in to seal the deal for me. Now, if you would please be so kind as to open the door for me and grant me passage?"

That was the last thing the trio heard before the sound of a mechanism beeping reached their ears. The footsteps then began to fade away as they seemingly receded through the door and into the president's office. They waited for a couple of minutes before they even dared to peek over the side of the bush to see if they had, indeed, left through the door. They checked and nobody was anywhere near the door, or at least on their side.

"O-okay, what just happened here?" Zack asked as his voice still held strong shock in it. "What in the world did we just hear right now coming from Mr. Crazy and SOLDIER boy's mouths?"

"A lot of things that we probably shouldn't have heard in the first place," Angeal replied with an unreadable expression on his face. "I still can't believe I heard what I just heard. Monsters in use for acts of terrorism when things don't go their way…"

"How can the professor even be insisting on having these creatures be used for some kind of combat outside of this building?" Cloud asked as he felt anger boiling within him. "He's already killed countless people in this building and turned them into one of those hellish creatures! Hasn't he had his fill of people suffering at the hands of his creations yet?

"Apparently not," the young SOLDIER replied as he placed a firm hand on the cadet's shoulders in an attempt to calm him. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: That professor has a bunch of loose screws up in that head of his. I think we've just witnessed the last screw in his brain become undone."

"What I find even more concerning is the fact that a high ranking SOLDIER is actually in on this, as well," the older SOLDIER added rather uneasily. "And the most disturbing thing about this is that he sounded so familiar. The way he speaks really reminds me of someone, but I can't think about it right now."

"Actually, I think that there's something even more concerning than that," the blond corrected the older man. "Those two just entered the president's floor. How are we supposed to get to the professor now?"

"I would suggest that we just bust our way in through the reception windows, but I have a feeling that that is out of the question."

"Unfortunately, you're right, Pup. That glass is made of bullet- and shatter-proof material. They weren't stupid when they designed the reception desk."

"Then how are we supposed to get to them now from this side?" Zack wondered as his cupped his face in his hands in frustration.

"That's easy: You don't," a voice suddenly answered from a few feet away from their position.

Practically jumping a good foot into the air in surprise, the trio immediately turned their gaze towards the opposite side of the room where they heard the voice. It was there they saw a man garbed in a long black trench coat that covered most of his black pants and boots. They were held together by a couple of belt-like suspenders that made a criss-cross pattern across his chest. His hair was long and silver and his eyes glowed in the most unnatural fashion as they stared at the trio. In his hand was an obscenely long blade that seemed impossible for the man to even wield, yet he was and had it at his side and at the ready.

"You are not to go past this door," the man simply replied as he gave a small, yet very sinister, smile.

"Sephiroth…!" Angeal exclaimed as he continued to stare at the SOLDIER in shock, the two next to him did the same thing and were at a loss for words.


	22. The Man Who Made A Pact With Hell

**Chapter 21: The Man Who Made A Pact With Hell**

"Sephiroth!" Angeal exclaimed as he continued to stare at the SOLDIER in complete shock; the two next to him did the same thing and they were all at a loss for words. "W-was it really you who was talking to the professor and let him through to President Shinra's office just now? B-but it can't be…!"

"Yes Angeal, it's me," the man known as Sephiroth replied calmly, his tone now distinguishable. "There's no need to be in denial about what you just saw. Oh, why do you have such a surprised expression on your face? Aren't you happy to be seeing your good friend alive and well after traversing through this entire building while following the poor professor around?"

Instead of answering the sarcastic question that was aimed at him, the man just continued to stare at the black garbed man in complete and utter shock. Zack was faring somewhat better, although his breaths were coming out in heavy huffs and he looked to be almost at the point of hyperventilating. Cloud, by some unknown force, managed to stay the calmest out of the three, and he just settled on staring at the high ranking SOLDIER with eyes that reflected countless emotions.

"Oh come now," Sephiroth said to them, his voice ever so calm and his tone cool. His very words flowed smoothly from his lips and were said with such clarity that it easily gave one hearing it the effect that he was a man with power. "Surely not all of you are so surprised at my presence here. If it were me, I would be overjoyed in seeing my good friend alive and well in a place such as this."

"…Why?" Angeal simply asked as his shock dissipated and was replaced with disappointment.

"Why what, Angeal?" the silver haired man pressed the SOLDIER. "What is it that you wish to ask of me?"

"…Why were you talking to Hojo about the creatures and allowing him to go through with what he's doing? Why are you in league with him and the president on this? Wh-what are you trying to do here?"

"Heh, heh," the silver haired man simply chuckled lightly as his lips curled into a bigger smirk. "I'm not trying to do anything here, my good friend. I am just simply following the things written in my agenda here. In regards to the creatures, I find them to be highly fascinating creations from the professor himself. They truly sound to be great bargaining tools for deals with the company, wouldn't you agree? Oh, why are you even asking me these questions? After all, the three of you were eavesdropping on our rather private conversation."

"Y-you knew we were listening in on you two?!" Cloud gasped in surprise as he took a step back in shock.

"Oh, there's a cadet with you as well. I didn't think that there would have been any left still wandering around inside this forsaken building, much less survive in it while all these monsters are lurking behind every single corner. Of course I knew that you were hiding just behind those potted plants while listening in onto my and the professor's rather private . I would expect that you would have known by now not to ever underestimate a SOLDIER."

"G-General Sephiroth," Zack addressed the man in a shaky breath. "Why are you even considering helping this crazy scientist with his goals? Why are you acting _with_ him instead of _against_ him?"

"I see that the pup is also a part of this group, as well," Sephiroth stated as he finally took the time to look at all three of them instead of just looking straight at Angeal. "I don't care about what that man thinks," he continued on rather bluntly. "I already said that I'm just simply following the things that are written in my agenda. My _personal_ agenda, if you have not realized yet."

"Does the professor have something on him that you want?" Angeal asked. "If so, then what is it?"

"My dear friend, I am not going to indulge to you my ambitions. You may be my friend, but even you are best kept in the dark about my plans. Besides, if I told you of my plans now, then you would surely try to stop me. It's not as though you'd be able to even if I ended up telling you my plans in its entirety. After all, I'm sure we both know who's the stronger of the two."

"Sephiroth!" the man nearly shouted out in anger. "Don't tell me that you're actually _supporting_ what they have agreed upon? Don't you know how many countless innocent people died because of the convoluted ideas of an insane professor and the agreement of the president to even allow this entire ordeal to take place? Has it ever occurred to you how many more potential deaths lie in wait if these things are allowed to continue on with their raid and leave this very building? Do you have any idea how large that very number can grow in such a short amount of time? Do you?!"

"Of course I do, Angeal," the silver haired man answered calmly despite being practically yelled at right in front of his very face. "It is, however, a small side-effect to the plans I have laid out in front of me. In order to obtain what I want from the good professor without killing him, I must reach out to his good side. And if it means that I must go against you and the rest of the people here in Shinra in order for my plans to play out, then so be it."

"Sephiroth!" Angeal exclaimed through gritted teeth at the same time Zack and Cloud shouted, "General!"

"Now, where were we before we started on our pleasant little conversation here?" Sephiroth asked sarcastically as he retained his calm and cool tone and allowed his eyes to wander between the three people in front of him. "Oh yes, I believe I remember now. You were planning on trying to gain passage into President Shinra's private office. I do hope that you know that there's no way to access it without the keycard in hand. Out of the four of us on this floor, only I have such a key in my possession."

"Please, Sephiroth," the older SOLDIER nearly begged as he saw his silver haired friend raise his obscenely long sword in front of him in what seemed to be preparation for battle. "Don't do what I think you're planning to do here."

"Oh, I promise you that it's not what you're thinking, Angeal," Sephiroth said as he shifted his feet into a more comfortable position and held a tight grip on his blade. "I'm not planning to participate in a fight to the death with you three here. No, I have better plans in mind. All I simply want to do here is to play a little game. A harmless little game that I'm sure is going to be fun for all of us."

"A-a fun game?" Cloud repeated hesitantly as he took another step back upon seeing the menacing sword reflecting off a glimmer of light that fell upon it and made it even more frightening. "Wh-what are you talking about, General? I h-hardly think this is the time t-to _be_ playing games."

"Oh, quite the contrary, my dear boy; I think now is a perfect time to be playing a game," the General explained with a small devilish smirk gracing his lips. "By game, I mean a test of sorts to see if you are all worthy enough to pass through this door and onto the president's office. It's really simple once you understand what you have to do in order to win. All you must do is survive my attacks against you for five minutes. Do so without any one of you being knocked out or killed and you shall be granted entrance to the president's office."

"Why do I get the feeling that this is anything but a simple game?" Zack asked worriedly as he saw the man shift into a battle stance. "The way you explained it to us, it sounds anything but simple."

"How do you expect all three of us to survive against a SOLDIER of your caliber?" Angeal asked as he refused to draw his blade. "I sparred you enough times to know that you're in a league of your own here! It's impossible for all three of us to survive your 'game' for even two minutes!"

"You shouldn't say such things, my good friend. We don't even know if it is at all possible for you all to win this game until we try it. Now, enough talk. It's time to play this game. We shall continue to play until five complete minutes are up. If you are all conscious after time is up, then you may enter the office. If one of you happens to fall unconscious, then you have until the end of the game to come to; otherwise, you all lose. The game begins…now!"

Without any warning, Sephiroth sped right towards the trio with great speed that was virtually near impossible for anyone to accomplish. He immediately went right towards Cloud, who was defenseless and taken aback at how fast the General was able to move, and disregarded the others next to him. The man took made use of this small advantage and began to raise his long sword over his head. He had an unreadable look in his eyes as he began to bring his blade down upon the awed cadet. Just before it made contact with his body, though, another blade found its way just above the blonde's head, thus blocking the deathly blow.

"Stop it, Sephiroth!" Angeal shouted at the General as Cloud followed the length of the blade towards its owner. It belonged to Angeal himself. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I already told you what I'm doing, Angeal," the silver haired man stated bluntly as he pulled back his sword and prepared for a side swing towards the cadet's right side. "I'm playing this game, and I expect you all to play along with me lest you want to lose more than just this game."

This time, Cloud was at the ready and he ducked underneath the blade just as Angeal's came around him and blocked another strike that would have at least scratched him if he had not ducked. He immediately rolled away towards Zack's position, who barely managed to bring his sword at the ready through all of the shock that was coursing through his body. It took nearly everything he had to keep himself from collapsing right then and there.

"Don't just stand there, Zack!" the older man shouted at the young SOLDIER as he pulled his blade away and managed to get in between the two and Sephiroth while dodging a swing at his side. "Make sure Cloud doesn't get singled out by the General! He won't stand a chance if that happens!"

"Y-y-yes, sir!" the SOLDIER teen stuttered as he pulled the blonde's arm and directed him to his back while gripping his sword with his other hand. "B-but what about you?"

"Just worry about Cloud and yourself!"

"You saw right through my plan, didn't you Angeal?" Sephiroth stated calmly as he easily parried a leftward slash, causing the blade to stand upright for a brief moment and allowing them to see that the blade was nearly as tall as its wielder. "I shouldn't have expected any less from you."

"I know you like the pages of a good book, Sephiroth," Angeal growled as they crossed blades and kept them there and glared at each other. "I know how you move around in battle and how you conduct most of your attacks. I also know that the way you're acting now isn't who you really are. You're not the type of person who would side with those who dare to do wrong and inflict harm upon others. You said that yourself during one of our sparring sessions!"

"I'm afraid that things tend to change over the course of time, my friend," the silver haired SOLDIER answered calmly as he broke their eye contact, jumped back a bit, and brought his sword with him, causing the other SOLDIER to stumble forward a bit before catching his balance at the sudden loss. "That also tends to include one's views on certain things. That is exactly what has happened to me; my views on certain things have changed quite a bit. I am now acting on a new goal."

"And what goal would it be that you're acting upon now?" the man asked as he readied his blade again.

"Something that I feel should not be indulged to you," the calm man stated as he went in for another strike with his blade raised high above his head again. "Now stop stalling with idle talk."

Angeal brought his sword in above his head again and prepared to let his blade meet with Sephiroth's once again. However, just as the silver haired man was about to bring his sword down upon the defending sword, he immediately changed the direction of his blade and let it run across the left side of Angeal's body before sharply turning it again and directing it to the SOLDIER's now exposed ribs. Thankfully, the fake-out had little effect on the man, for he knew the technique well, and he quickly brought his sword to protect his floating ribs right at the last second. He then moved away from the blade's path and attempted to counter-attack with a right slash of his own, but he failed to do so and was simply parried away.

"You can do better than that, can't you?" Sephiroth goaded Angeal with a teasing smirk on his face. "Oh, I forgot; you never did beat me during our training sessions. Not once have you ever had the pleasure of doing so."

Instead of answering back to the goad, Angeal kept a level head and stayed his ground. He then brought his hand in front of him and a jolt of lightning came flying out towards the unsuspecting Sephiroth.

His surprise lasted for less than a second, though, before he regained his composure. He brought his long thin blade in front of him and allowed it to take the jolt. It struck the blade and followed the blade all the way to its tip before being redirected in the direction where it was pointing at. The direction it was being redirected was in the direct pathway of Zack and Cloud.

"Cloud, watch it!" Zack shouted out as he pushed the cadet out of the way just before the bolt struck him. In turn, he took the hit and was hit with the most painful jolt he ever felt before.

"Zack!" Angeal shouted in concern before feeling himself being sent flying a few feet backwards from a punch delivered from Sephiroth's fist. He landed on the floor on his side and slid another foot or so before he was stopped by a pillar hitting his back. The pain from being struck so hard nearly caused him to faint, but he managed to hold on and simply groaned in pain.

"A-Angeal!" Zack cried out in both surprise and pain as he held onto his right arm where the bolt struck. "God damn it! This hurts like hell! I feel like my skin's been charred on the barbeque!"

"Let me take care of it!" Cloud said as he quickly took his Cure Materia from is armlet and healed the young SOLDIER's wound. "Don't go moving around too much while I do this."

"Thanks Cloud," he hastily thanked the cadet as the blond quickly administered the spell and finished as quickly as he started. "Now we just need to get to Angeal and make sure he's okay."

"If you believe you can do so, then by all means, try," Sephiroth said as he directed his full attention to the two left standing. "After all, you two are next on my list to take out. He may not be unconscious, but I'm sure Angeal won't be deflecting any more hits for you cadet."

"Then I'll be the one to deflect them for him!" Zack said defiantly as he quickly flexed his healed arm before bring his blade up and pointing it at the General. "You won't lay a hand on him so long as I'm around. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Angeal!"

"Such strong words coming from one as young as you," the silver haired man simply said as he readied himself for an attack. "The only question now is: Can you mean what you say?"

Once again without warning, the man dashed towards the pair at the same lightning fast speed he went at the first time. This time, though, Zack was prepared and brought his sword up in front of him at the last moment, thus ending his forward momentum and stalling him.

"I'll keep him busy!" the young SOLDIER said as he struggled to keep his ground with such strength pushing against him. "You go and heal Angeal! Don't worry; just go!"

"A-alright," the blond answered hesitantly as he quickly ran past the two and went to where Angeal was struggling to sit up.

"Humph, a pitiful attempt on your part," Sephiroth simply said as he let one of his hands off of the hilt of his blade and reached into his trench coat pocket. In less than a nanosecond later, he brought it out and a huge chunk of ice started to speed its way towards the cadet.

"Cloud, behind you!" Zack shouted as he continued to struggle against the blade that was now being held by one hand. The General was definitely a SOLDIER who was in a league of his own. His strength was unbelievable! Even with only one hand keeping his blade steady, the man was still pretty strong.

Reacting at the urgent call, Cloud turned around and saw that he was now face to face with a huge oncoming boulder of ice. Not having enough time to take out his Fire Materia before it would hit him, he did the next best thing and took out his sword. Standing his ground, he held it above his head. Then, just as the ice boulder was about to make contact with him, he brought his blade down upon it. Amazingly, the ice split in two and both chunks continued on their altered course along the sides of the cadet, crashing onto the floor a second later without inflicting harm upon him.

"Hmm, the cadet knows how to act very quickly when he's put on the spot ," Sephiroth said thoughtfully as he paid no mind to the SOLDIER he was still crossing blades with whatsoever. "He has great skill to be able to flawlessly slice my Blizzaga magic in half."

"Heh, what did you expect from him?" Zack said rather cockily as he continued to apply force onto his blade. "That's my cadet I trained right there. He has a great knack for battle and he can fare well on his own."

"Oh really?" the silver haired man mused as he gave a sudden push to his sword, thus causing the young SOLDIER to step back a few paces due to the sudden excess of force. "Then allow me to see just how well he fares against me."

"No, don't!" he yelled, but it was to no avail. The General had already began to slowly make his way towards where the cadet was standing, the two of them staring at each other with blade in hand and doing nothing.

In an attempt to stop the General's advance, Zack ran up behind him and tried to skewer him in his back. That, unfortunately, did not work for the man turned around quickly and easily deflected the jab with his sword. He then quickly delivered a strong side kick right in the teen's stomach and sent him flying across the room and hitting the glass wall. Thankfully, it did not break, but there was now a bunch of cracks on it due to the force used to strike it.

"Z-Zack!" Cloud shouted in shock as the General turned back around and began to advance towards him again.

"Now, I wouldn't go worrying about him if I were you," Sephiroth stated plainly with a smirk as he came closer and closer to the cadet's spot. "I would be worried more about yourself right now. You're about to have your strength tested by the great General himself. Many in your position would consider such an opportunity an honor bestowed upon them."

"U-uh, I…don't think that this is an honor I would like to receive," the blond stated rather nervously as he tightened his grip on his sword and readied himself for whatever it is that was to come.

"Oh, what a shame. I'm afraid, though, that you do not have much of a choice in the matter. Now then, prepare to have the honor of fighting against me bestowed upon you!"

For the third time since this "game" started, the General attacked without any warning. It was all poor Cloud could do to bring his sword up to his right side to prevent the offending blade from slicing his head right off his shoulders. Since he was not expecting such a swift attack, he did not have time to steady his parry; so he was knocked off to the side. He did manage, though, to keep his balance and stay on his feet after stumbling for a few feet.

"Good recovery, cadet," the silver haired SOLDIER stated with amusement as he saw the blond ready himself again. "Now let's see how well you fare against this."

He then went on with many slashes against Cloud. He was moving so fast; it was a wonder how Cloud was able to deflect almost all of them. A couple managed to nick his arms, but the wounds were not so deep that it constituted for any worry. The whole time he was deflecting the attacks against him the blond was being forced backwards. It was not until he felt his back hit the glass wall did he notice the fact.

"Backed into a wall, aren't we? I must admit, you're better than I thought you would be. Let's see now how you'll get out of this one."

The General quickly brought his blade up and swung it downwards onto the cornered cadet. At the last second, though, he managed to duck away from it and somehow ended up right behind the man, unbeknownst to him. He did not realize it until he felt a small breeze behind him. Turning around, he saw a blade coming down at him again. He stepped back as much as he could in order to avoid it, but the blade was too long and he ended up being nicked in the chest by the tip. Even though it was only from the tip, so much strength was put into the swing that it sent Cloud backwards a good foot and had him land on the floor onto his back.

"Ha, ha, very good!" Sephiroth commended Cloud as he approached the stunned cadet. "Very good indeed. You are not that easy of a target to hit. You truly are different from all of the other cadets in here. It's a shame, though, that you're fighting for the other side."

"As if I would even think about ever joining you in this crazy scheme of yours!" Cloud said venomously as he tried to get up from where he was. However, the General quickly appeared over him and caused him to fall back onto his back from the sudden appearance.

"No, I suppose not. I guess I should end this game now and claim victory as my own. So sorry that I have to kill you."

"Wh-what?!" the cadet exclaimed in fright as he saw the long sword rise above the General's head. In the next second, he blade came surging down towards him.

However, before it could even get pass the top half of his body, a blade found its way into the sword's path from the right. In the next second, another blade came in from the left and performed the same action. Finally, just as the offending blade was about to make contact with his chest, despite the blockages that had appeared a second ago, Cloud brought his sword above him and formed the third blockage. With this movement, the blade tip stopped short from piercing the cadet's chest.

"Sorry, but you're not going to be winning this game," Zack's voice said in slight pain. "At least not this time around."

"You're not going to be killing anybody here on my watch!" Angeal hissed as he continued to keep the long blade from making contact with the cadet.

"Ah, so the two of you still have some fight in you," Sephiroth simply said as he withdrew his blade from the blockage the three swords formed. "I should have expected as much. After all, you two are SOLDIER members, and this cadet could easily pass for a newly recruited 2nd Class.

"Anyway, it seems like the game…is over," he continued as he put his sword away and onto his back. "The five minutes that I have been keeping track of in my head are up and you have met the requirements. Congratulations, you've won."

The trio just stared at the General and wondered if he was just trying to fool them into a false sense of security. Not once did they let their guard down, even when he had his back shown towards them. It was not until they saw him pull out a keycard from his pocket and swipe it into the card slot by the door did they know he was being sincere.

'I suggest that you get yourselves together," Sephiroth stated as he placed the card back into his pocket and continued to act as if the past five minutes never happened. "It wouldn't do for you all to be killed by a monster. Oh, do make sure to close the door when you all decide to come through. It wouldn't do to have the creatures storm the only safe haven in this entire building. Now if you'll excuse me; I must continue on with my plans."

With that said, the silver haired man went through the door he just opened and left it that way. The trio heard his footsteps fade away as he made his way to the 70th floor, the final floor in this building. It was only until they heard complete silence did they all breathe out a sigh of relief.

Somehow, they had all managed to survive this "game" the General had came up with. To be honest, they all, at one point or another, thought that they were not going to win. However, it was through sheer determination, and a whole lot of dumb luck to go with it, that allowed them to persevere through this insane trial. That and they were able to learn something from all this: The man that they had learned to respect, Sephiroth, was not going to help them stop the professor. Rather, he was going to aid him in whatever it was he had planned. The General…was officially their enemy.


	23. A SOLDIER's pain and Recovery

**Chapter 22: A SOLDIER's Pain and Recovery**

"Oh. My. Friggin. God!" Zack all but shouted as he collapsed stomach-first onto the floor and gave a loud overdramatic sigh in accompaniment to it. "That was definitely _the_ most craziest thing I have ever done in my entire eighteen years of life on this planet! Not even going exploring in the mountains of Gongaga and getting lost in there for hours of end while being chased by a rabid monster intent on trying to take a chunk out of me could compare to all this!

"I mean, for Gaia's sake, the General practically went all-out on us!" the teen continued on rather heatedly and animatedly. What in the world was he thinking about? 'Let's play a game' he says!" he said in a deep mock calm and cool tone that was meant to mimic that of Sephiroth's. "It seemed more like he was trying to see if he could kill us all in five minutes!"

"Well, at least we somehow made it through his insane idea of a game alive and…well for the most part," Cloud sighed as he sat up from his position on the floor and grimaced a bit at the slight irritation it caused to his light chest wound. "I still can't believe, though, that he actually kept true to his word and only fought us for that small period of time. I was expecting him to go past it and keep going until he killed us all. But jeez, it sure felt like he was fighting us for a lot longer than just five minutes. It felt more like an entire hour came and went before he stopped.

"I was seriously starting to think that one of us was going to die for sure more times than I can count," the cadet continued on somewhat feverishly as he visibly grimaced at the thought. "I've never seen anybody move as fast as the General did as he fought us. His strength was also amazing; I didn't think it was possible for anybody to become both that strong and fast, especially with a damn long sword like the one he was using. I really thought that he was going to kill us. Hell, I thought that he was going to kill _me_ when he decided to single me out and go all-out with his attacks."

"Well, consider yourself very lucky that you're even sitting right next to me and talking with me right now about all this," the young SOLDIER said as he lightly patted the cadet on the shoulder while taking the Cure Materia out of his hands at the same time. "To have the General actually fight against you the way he did then; it's amazing how you even managed to deflect most of his attacks and survive the entire time with only a few scratches on your arms and chest as wounds. And you managed all that while up against his insanely sharp skills and ridiculously long sword, the Masamune, no less! I only caught the end of your fight once I was over the pain I was dealt by his kick that sent me flying back into the wall, but I saw that you were able to hold up against him on your own pretty well."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," the blond replied as he saw his friend inspect his chest wound carefully. "I was just trying to do what you taught me about sword fighting. I was also trying to use some of the techniques I saw you and Angeal use while you two were fighting the monsters in here."

"Hey, don't go trying to mimic what we do here. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be trying out new techniques. It's good that you're doing that. It's just that you should try to take some time and find a style that suits you best. Don't just go around trying to only mimic what you've seen others do. Practice a bit on your own and find a style you find comfortable. If you can't find one, then just try to make one up for yourself. Got it, Cloud?"

"Y-yeah, I got it Zack," Cloud replied with a nod as he tried to remember everything he was being told. "I'll make sure to try and keep all that in mind the next time I practice with the sword."

"Good, you make sure you remember. Now stay still while I go ahead and heal your chest wound. Boy, you're really lucky that you backed up when you did. If you didn't, let's just say that healing you right now would be real pointless. I still can't believe that you, a cadet, managed to survive that long against General Sephiroth's onslaught of attacks."

While the young SOLDIER was busy healing Cloud's chest wound and going on about the insane battle they nearly died in, the blond was looking at where Angeal was sitting at. He had this unreadable, almost empty-looking, expression in his eyes as he looked down at the sword in his hands. He seemed lost in thought and did not seem sure about what to do next.

"Wh-what do you think we should do about Angeal, Zack?" the blond asked as he continue to look at Angeal's direction with concern. "Shouldn't we try to help him out a bit? I mean, he doesn't look too great sitting there all by himself with a blank look on his face and thinking Gaia knows what in his head."

"Well, wouldn't you feel that way if you just figured out that your good friend practically backstabbed you and is now siding with the enemy?" the spiky raven haired teen asked as he healed the last of the scratches on the cadet's arms. "I don't blame Angeal for feeling so shaken up as he is now by all of this. He's probably got a lot of stray thoughts passing around his head right now. Hell, I know I would be in shock if that happened to me."

"But he just…" the cadet trailed off with a sigh as he tried to find a way to phrase what was on his mind. "He just doesn't look like the same 1st Class SOLDIER I know him to be as when he's acting like this. It's almost as if he's changed into a completely different person altogether; he kind of looks like a shy and quiet person instead of the smart and confident leader I came to know him as. This depressed mood of his really doesn't fit in with his personality."

"I know; that's exactly the same thing I'm thinking, too. He just doesn't look like the same mentor I've worked under and looked up to for the past couple of years. But there's nothing that we can really do to help him with this. It's something that he has to get over with personally. All we can do is just let him have some space and give him some time in order to get over this."

"Well, I'm not just going to sit around here and wait for this to pass," Cloud stated as he immediately got up right as Zack lifted his hand away from his arm and started to walk towards the moping man. "I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help cheer him up. It's the least I can do for him since he's put his life on the line so many times just to keep me alive. That and he's also taught me quite a bit about a few things in here tonight."

"Oh, you're really stubborn when it comes to things like this, you know that Cloud?" Zack sighed as he gripped the Cure Materia tightly in his hand and began to follow the cadet. "Then again, this is exactly what I like about you as a friend. Alright then, let's go ahead and try to cheer Angeal up, although I still don't think we'll be able to do much for him."

"Hey, like Sephiroth said before he started to try out his game on us: We don't know what is or is not possible unless we try it out. So let's go ahead and give it a try and see if it works."

A couple of seconds later, the two teens approached the spot where Angeal was still sitting with the same unreadable look on his face. Cloud came up to his side and sat down next to him; the man did not seem to notice as he kept the expression on his face. Zack stood on his other side and placed a friendly and reassuring hand on his shoulder. He still did not show any signs of noticing the gesture and continued to stay lost in his thoughts.

"Hey Angeal," Cloud softly addressed the older SOLDIER in an attempt to get through to him. "How are you feeling right now? I never did get the chance to heal your wounds ever since the battle ended."

"I'm fine," came the soft and simple reply. At least it was something said. "I'm not that badly injured."

"Oh, come on, are you sure about that?" Zack asked light-heartedly as he activated the Cure Materia that was still in his hands yet made no immediate move to heal the man's injuries. "I think it'd be better if we healed you up, just in case the battle did do more damage than you thought."

"…Alright, go ahead," Angeal simply said as he tilted his head slightly towards the younger SOLDIER's direction. "I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. Just make sure that you use the Cura Materia I managed to knock out of his person when he punched me."

"Okay, I guess I can use it, but where did it end up after you knocked it off of him?" the young SOLDIER asked with a raised eyebrow as he discontinued the flow of magic, surprised that his mentor was able to remember something as small as that in his current mental state.

"On the floor next to the pillar I was sent crashing into," the man answered before giving off an empty chuckle. "Heh, the last thing I need now is to collapse because of an injury I sustained because of Sephiroth. I half-believed that he was being serious when he said he was going to fight us. I guess I let my guard down and got this injury as a result of that. Heh, heh, that was stupid of me."

At the sound of the small empty chuckle, the cadet shivered ever so slightly; not so much so that either SOLDIER could have possibly saw it, but enough that one could see it if they were really paying close attention. It was somewhat creepy at how it had sounded unmeaning and distant at the same time. It truly did not define who Angeal really was as a person; it was the exact opposite definition of the man; the complete polar opposite of the true him.

"Uh, is there anything that you want to talk about to us, Angeal?" Cloud offered to the man as he tried to move past the disturbing chuckle and distract himself by looking for the Cura Materia. He soon found it next to the pillar and immediately threw it in Zack's direction, who caught it with great ease. "You know that Zack and I are here for you if you feel like talking, right?"

"Yeah, I know," the man replied with a sigh; a better response than previous ones but still lacking in strength and surety. "It's just… It's…hard for me to be talking about it, that's all."

"I'll bet it is," Zack said in a soft supportive tone as he lifted up his mentor's black shirt and grimaced slightly at the brownish-blue bruise that was on his abdomen and seemingly getting bigger by the minute. He then proceeded to start healing whatever internal damage there was with relative ease, thanks to the new Cura spell in his hands, while saying, "I'm sure it's not an easy thing to handle when you figure out that your best friend stabbed you in the back and is now in league with the enemy. I don't think that I have the right to say that I know how you're feeling; I can only imagine how much pain you're in right now, though."

"You can't even imagine it, Zack," Angeal answered in a soft whisper, knowing full well that his voice might crack if he spoke any louder than that. "You can't even begin to imagine the pain this causes me." He then added after taking a deep breath, "It hurts more than when I was punched hard in the gut by him earlier. Losing one of my best friends like this feels like somebody's ripping a piece of me forcibly away from my heart. It… Oh Gaia, it hurts so badly."

"…Hey, don't forget that you still have the two of us with you," the blond assured him as he began to gently rub the man's back after seeing the pained expression make its way onto his face and sensing that he was trying to hold back tears. "You still have us to talk to if things end up getting too crazy for you. We're not going to be joining the enemy in their crazy plans anytime soon."

"Cloud's right, Angeal," the young SOLDIER agreed as he finished up with the abdomen and pulled the shirt back down before checking for any other bruising areas that might require attention. "We're going to stick by you no matter what happens. We'll be there for you if you need to lean on someone for support. We'll be there whenever you need us to be there for you.

"I promise you, you can rest assure that the two of us won't go stabbing you in the back any time soon in the near future," he continued on as he finished up with the first aid. "We're not that crazy that we would side with people who're bent on destroying the world all for their own personal gain. I don't know about Cloud but helping people like that is certainly not my style."

"Hey, I don't like playing the bad guy, Zack," the cadet responded, knowing full well that his friend was only teasing him and figuring that he was trying to cheer Angeal up. "I'd rather be fighting against them and save the world or die trying. You'll never catch me on the other side of this battle, that's for sure. Besides, can you really see me siding with the enemy on something like this?"

"I don't know," the raven haired teen with a playful smirk on his face. "Although it's hard for me to imagine you doing something like that, that innocent-looking face of yours kind of says otherwise and seems to say that you're just ready to change sides whenever you see fit. I guess then that I can kind of see you siding with the enemy on something like this."

"What the…?! Zack, how could you…? Oh, I can't believe that you'd even be thinking of me as a double-crosser! That's just unbelievable. And who are you calling 'innocent-looking?' I don't think I was the only person to have that kind of face in this group the last time I checked."

"Okay, so maybe you're not the only guy with an innocent look on him here. The point is, I'm a guy who has an open mind."

"How about a guy who doesn't really use his common sense and gut feeling that much?" Cloud bit back both annoyed and playfully as he lightly smacked his forehead. "I actually think that suits you better."

"Ohh, low blow there, Spiky," Zack winced as he pulled off his infamous kicked puppy expression. "That hurts, you know?"

"Not as much as when you call me by those ridiculous nicknames you came up for me."

"Alright, you two," Angeal interrupted them with another light chuckle; this time it was not empty and had true feeling in it that defined his character, good-hearted and slightly teasing. "Stop trying to go at each others' throats over this. I know you two are just trying to cheer me up, and I must say that it really worked. Thanks, you two. I really needed it."

"No need to thank us, Angeal," the blond responded as he turned his gaze towards the man and smiled at him. "After all, that's what good friends are for. Isn't that right, Zack?"

"That's how it was the last time I checked," the young SOLDIER replied with a wide smile. "True friends always stand up for and protect their friends. There's no way around that, Angeal. It looks as though you're going to be stuck with us whether you like it or not."

"I guess that's how it's going to be," the man agreed as his smile widened. "It's nice to know that I have you two to come to whenever things like this happen. I still find it hard to believe, though," he added as his smile faded, "that Sephiroth would actually be taking the side for all of this chaos. It just doesn't seem like him to do something like this. I can't help but to feel that there's something really important about all this that's causing him to act like this."

"Well, maybe we can ask him about that the next time we run into him," Cloud suggested with a small shrug. "He doesn't seem like the type of person who would just attack us without warning, so I think that was can pull it off."

"We might be able to do that if he's willing to listen to us and answer our questions," the raven haired teen clarified. "He may be a cool-headed person and all that, but we don't really know what's going on inside that head of his. For all we know, he could have a murderous intent and just wants to kill everybody in here. Of course, I'm only kidding when I'm saying that, but you can't say that it's impossible for a scenario of that caliber to be plausible."

"Look, we can't be jumping to conclusions here without knowing what's really going on," Angeal stated as he got up to his feet and quickly regained his normal attitude and composure. "All we can do now is to take Cloud's advice and try to talk with the General when we get that chance to. There's really nothing else we can do but to find the truth behind his actions. He just might have a good reason to be doing what he did with us."

"And what reason could he have for actually trying to kill us and not holding anything back?" the young SOLDIER asked in a sarcastic tone as he tossed the Cure Materia back into the cadet's hands and pocketed the Cura Materia into his pocket. "From what I can see, I don't think that there's any reason for him to have done that except that he has crossed over to the crazy professor's side."

"And I refuse to come to that conclusion until I have heard it from his very mouth. Until I have heard his side of the story on why he fought us the way he did, I will not jump to any kind of conclusions."

For a couple of seconds, the trio stood in silence and did not move from their place. A small smile, though, did make their way onto the two teens' faces. They had succeeded in trying to cheer the man up. Now, he was back to his old calm and reasonable self. And that was just the way they liked him to be as.

"I figured you'd say something like that, Angeal," Zack replied as he scratched the tip of his nose a bit, the smile still apparent on his face. "Only you would say something like that, even in a situation like this."

"That and only you would know Sephiroth better than anyone else," Cloud added with a nod. "After all, you two are good friends with each other, or at least according to you. Maybe he'd tell you what he's really up to. Hopefully, it doesn't end up turning into something bad for us."

"I hope, for all of our sakes, that that doesn't end up being the truth," Angeal said with a worried sigh. "It truly won't be in our best interests if we're forced to fight each other again. I'm sure that there won't be a five minute time limit when we face each other again."

"Well, the General went up to President Shinra's office," the blond stated somewhat randomly as he looked over to the still open door that led to the last floor. "If we want to know what he's up to, then the best thing to do here is to follow him and get the truth right out of his mouth."

"Then we better hurry and get up there," the young SOLDIER said as he started to move towards the open door. "We've been down here for awhile now. I'm almost certain that the General's probably just waiting for us to come up and confront him. He's probably wondering what's taking us so long to get up there?"

"Either that, or he's just continuing on with his conversation with Hojo and is now involving the president into it," the man speculated as he followed the raven haired teen. "It doesn't matter what he's doing up there. The important thing is that he _is_ up there. This may be the only chance we have to ask him our questions."

"I hope, then, that he's willing to listen to what we have to ask him," the blond sighed as he followed the two closely behind. "I really do hope that we don't have to fight him again. I don't want to be singled out by him again for a one-on-one fight to the death."


	24. The Throne Room of Hell

**Chapter 23: The Throne Room of Hell**

As the trio made their way though the door that was kindly, using the term very loosely, left open for them by Sephiroth when they finished their game and saw the General pass through, they made sure to follow his advice and shut the door tightly behind them. Even though it seemed that they were for now on opposite sides of this whole ordeal, they knew that the great SOLDIER was right and that the 70th floor, the president's floor, was probably the last safe haven to be found anywhere in the entire Shinra building. To jeopardize it by leaving the door open and unsupervised would surely invite nothing but more trouble to their already precarious situation. That was the last thing that any of them wanted at this point.

Once they were safely on the other side of the door, they took a quick look at their surroundings. It was not much different than that of the other room they had just previously came in from. The décor was more or less the same, with the floors waxed to the point of shininess and potential to slip and healthy potted plants. The only main difference was that the room seemed to be cleaner and held more sense of importance than the previous one. Maybe it was because it was the threshold that led to President Shinra's office that they took even more unwarranted care to this room. Maybe they wanted it to look as presentable as they could for any guests or potential business partners that might walk through here.

Further down the room were two sets of stairs; one located on either side of the room and both leading to the 70th floor. Each of them sported beautiful stainless gold hand rails on either side and was nicely covered in soft carpet threaded with red yarn that branched off into two at the base from the original that came from the previous room. They seemed to have been freshly cleaned, for the only set of prints noticeable on the carpet were those who had passed by earlier; namely, Professor Hojo and General Sephiroth. One of the sets went up from the right set of stairs while the other opted for the left.

"We're getting close to the end of the mission," Zack said in a mildly quiet tone as he visually followed the pair of tracks. "We're one step closer to getting out of this place. We just need to get our hands on the crazy professor, get some questions answered by General Sephiroth, contact Tseng about the status of this mission, and haul our butts out of here."

"And how are we supposed to be able to do that?" Cloud asked with a slight scowl. "Don't you remember what the Turks who met up with us said earlier? They said that the entire 1st floor was overwhelmed with zombies and creatures. How the hell are we going to be able to get through them and out of this building? They already had a hard time getting _to_ the elevators. I can't even imagine how hard it'll be for us to get to the exit _from_ the elevators."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Angeal stated as he approached the sets of stairs. "For now, let's just concentrate on finishing this mission. Then we'll worry about how to get out of here.

"This is how we'll proceed from here," the man continued as he positioned himself on the left set of stairs. "We'll approach them by climbing both sets of stairs. I'll take the left side while you and Cloud will take the right. I suggest that you have your swords at the ready. Sephiroth's up there and I don't want to take any chances; even if he really is acting on good intentions."

"I really hope right on that, Angeal," the young SOLDIER replied rather doubtfully. "I really don't want to end up fighting the General again. Once is more than enough for me."

"If we do end up fighting, though," the blond said as he started to take his position at the base of the right staircase, "then I'd rather that he fight the two of you than to go and single me out again. I don't think that I'll be able to handle his amazing strength and speed a second time around."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Spiky. If he tries to pull a stunt like that again, Angeal and I'll make sure to protect you as best as we can from that. Just make sure that you don't go and put yourself in a position that would allow him to do something like that."

"Remember, we're not going up there to pick a fight with any of them," the older SOLDIER reminded them. "Just make sure to always keep your cool and don't fight unless they initiate it first. Now that we have the plan in our minds, let's go ahead and finish this mission here and now."

Taking that as their cue to start moving, Cloud and Zack began to slowly and cautiously make their way up their set of stairs; Angeal did the same. All three of them had their swords drawn and at the ready for whatever might come at them. Their footsteps were quiet, thanks to the carpeting beneath them, thus allowing them to stealthily make their way up without the risk of being heard.

After a few seconds of slow climbing, Zack and Cloud made it to the final floor; President Shinra's floor. They did not climb all the way to the top; rather, they made sure that they could see just over the last step and still stay relatively hidden from view at the same time. The only way they could be seen now was if someone paid very close attention to the stairs.

By the time they had themselves situated comfortably, they noticed a few voices talking amongst themselves. They waited for a few seconds to try and listen and counted three voices altogether. Even though they were not sure about the third person, they were pretty sure that they knew everybody there, if not by name only. They belonged to Professor Hojo, General Sephiroth, and President Shinra himself. There was no doubt about it; the three voices belonged to those three people and they were currently talking amongst themselves about something.

As the two teens were busy trying to listen in on what was being verbally exchanged within the conversation, they heard a calm and cool voice say, "It seems as though we have a few guests with us, president. Stop hiding by the stairs and show yourselves to us. You know that it's not nice to eavesdrop on a potentially important conversation and not make yourselves known to us. I'm sure you all know better than that…Zack, Cloud, and Angeal."

Upon hearing their names being called, the two teens recoiled in shock; Zack nearly fell down the stairs as a result of that. That quickly passed, though, once they realized that it was the general speaking to them. Only he could have addressed them in such a way without first seeing who was hiding out at the stairs. After all, he did leave the door opened for them after trying to kill them a few minutes ago. It would have been only natural then for him to have called out their names for they were the last people he saw before he came up here.

After giving each other a nervous glance, Cloud and Zack hesitantly stepped away from the stairs and made themselves known to the people who were talking. Once the two of them had their complete bodies out of the stairwell and in the 70th floor, they also noticed that Angeal, who had came up from the other set of stairs, had done the same. He gave a barely noticeable nod at the two and began to move forward in a calm manner towards the three people that were at the back of the floor. The two teens followed suit and quickly joined up with the man as they walked down the red carpet, which had combined back into one somewhere towards the middle of the room, that led them to their destination.

It was then that they were all able to receive a good view of the entire floor. As they quickly scanned the area without really moving their heads around too much and causing anymore unnecessary suspicion upon themselves, they soon noticed that it did not really have the necessary requirements to be considered an actual "floor," per se. The entire area was practically one gigantic room made to look very elaborate with the decorations placed within it and spacious in how they arranged it.

There were decorative white marble pillars that had beautiful green vine plants trailing up to the top from sections of dirt that surrounded the base of the post. All of them were positioned in linear order near the center of the room starting from the stairs and began to branch out towards where the president's desk was situated at. The pillars then circled around the area, following closely to the contour of the wall and making a perfect circle that surrounded the desk.

The desk that was situated in the exact center of the circle of vine-covered marble pillars was made out of what seemed to be high-quality platinum metal. It easily reflected the light that was shining from the light fixtures above; although it did not blind the trio when they looked directly at it. It stood on legs made of the same material, but at the foot of each leg was a gemstone; one for each leg. From the top-left and going clockwise, there was an emerald, a ruby, a sapphire, and a diamond. Obviously, the president was truly a very wealthy man; he wanted to show it off and make sure that everybody who came to his floor for whatever reason would see it.

Sitting behind the desk was the president himself who seemed to be a little bit under the chubby side. He was donned in a very expensive bright red suit with a dark blue tie that stood out from his white shirt and was in contrast to his suit. His bright yellow hair, combed neatly down and showing no sign of aging or disarray, could almost match that of Cloud's, but it did not for it was a bit too much on the bright side and was definitely not spiky in any way, shape, or form. He had a few visible wrinkles on his forehead, a sure sign that he was starting to get on in years, yet the glare that he had on them seemed to say otherwise and reflected the power associated with his position.

As the three of them came to a stop a few feet away from both the desk and Sephiroth, they took note of Professor Hojo's position. He had placed one of his hands on the president's desk and leaning casually against it. On his face was a thin and very creepy smile that spoke more than words could of his true demeanor and, quite possibly, the true intentions he had for his experiments. Other than the facial expression he had on now, nothing else seemed to have changed about him. He still exuded that strange, creepy aura about him, and the sick grin he had on his face grew even more as he kept his gaze on them.

"Hmm, how interesting," they heard the president murmur to himself in a deep and low voice. "I didn't think that there were going to be anyone left alive in this building. What's more surprising is that there are three of you and that you're right now all standing before me. It's amazing how you all survived the monsters and managed to make your way up here at the same time."

"If you don't mind me saying so, Mr. President; I prefer the term 'experiments' rather than monsters, as you so put it," the professor corrected the man in a polite manner while keeping his gaze at the three standing in front of the desk. "However, you may call them whatever you wish. I only hope that you enjoyed the demonstration of their powers that I presented to you tonight."

"The creatures truly have such frightening strength," the powerful man said with a small dignified nod without once breaking eye contact from the trio standing in front of him. "They're more than perfect for me to use in cases where a deal doesn't go my way. You've done a very good job, Professor Hojo. They should serve me well in the coming years of this growing company."

"So you really are working together with the professor on this, aren't you Mr. President?" Angeal asked in a tone that sounded to be more disappointment than actual shock as he shook his head at the man. "I can't believe that you would actually choose to side with a madman such as him! Why would a respectable man in a high position such as you put yourself in such a position where you would commit what amounts to be murder just to obtain what you want from others? Why would you choose to kill countless people, whom all of them being your faithful employees and protectors, just to see how well these things can do in the field? Why are you even considering on letting these monsters out and threaten the people outside of this building, or so I overheard the professor talking with General Sephiroth earlier?"

"I would find the answer to that question quite simple; so simple that I'm sure even the stupidest person on this planet could figure it out without me having to spell it out for them. It appears that this, regrettably, is one of those cases. Very well, I'll tell you. I did all this simply because I am able to. I don't know why you're so shocked over my actions, though. I've done this countless times; all of them without you SOLDIERs' knowledge.

"Anyway, I asked for all this to be done simply because I am the president of this major company, the Shinra Company, which has its influence on almost every part of this planet," he continued on in his powerful tone. "This is a company that is close to having its influence cover all of Gaia. Therefore, that gives me the power to do whatever it is that I wish to do, for I am this close to ruling the planet and all those who live on it. That also includes the unleashing of these amazing creatures upon the very people within this building."

"I can't believe that you would actually say something like that!" Zack exclaimed as he took a step towards the desk. He was quickly stopped though by a quick hand from his mentor grabbing onto his arm and stopping him. "What kind of president of his own company would put his own employees and army members' lives on the line all for the sake of seeing how some killer experiments can do? That sounds more like something a murderer would do, which is exactly what you are right now! You don't even deserve to be called a president of this company!"

"I suggest that you be careful and watch what you say in front of the president about him, Zackary," Sephiroth warned the young SOLDIER without changing out of his stoic look or tone. "He can easily have you punished for that, no matter where you are on this planet."

"It's alright, General," President Shinra waved off the insult with a gentle wave of his hand. "I care very little about what this boy says or thinks of me. He is, after all, a bit too young to understand what it is that I'm even trying to accomplish here. Either way, it does nothing to change my opinion on the matter at hand.

"I must say, though, that I am surprised that you three are even standing before me now," he continued on as he shuffled through some papers on his desk with little interest. "I believe professor that you told me before this whole thing started that nobody would be able to survive once they find themselves standing in the presence of your creatures. Why has that not happened with these three, I wonder?"

"I've never anything along the lines of that to you, sir!" Hojo stated in a defensive manner as his expression took on that of one being insulted. "The only thing I said was that there was only a 99.99% chance of there being no survivors after two hours of the creatures being unleashed into this building. That number does, of course, exclude you, me, and the General. That would only leave a .01% chance of a person or persons surviving their wrath after the two hours.

"Out of that already small percentage, only a .001% would be for people surviving while on the constant move, something that these three have no doubt been doing this whole time," the scientist continued to drone on in an animated way, something that would have caused Zack to fall asleep were the circumstances different and not as dire as they were now. "Apparently, that immensely small number was on the side of these three members of the Shinra Army, for it is now midnight; two hours exactly since the entire presentation for you has started, sir."

"Talk about having the devil's luck," the General stated as he shifted his weight around a bit. "You three managed to survive the trials set before you with such odds stacked against you. And all while having a cadet by your side, no less, who also managed to pull his weight well for the group. That is truly an impressive feat for you all to have accomplished."

"Nothing is impressive about us just simply trying to survive in this man-made hellhole concocted by an insane scientist and authorized by a ruthless president!" Cloud stated venomously as he scowled angrily at the president. "It wasn't impressive when the three of us were forced to fend for ourselves when we were cornered and about to be killed by one of those damned zombies and creatures. It wasn't impressive when we were forced to fight one of the professor's insane experiments while he made a run for it. It wasn't impressive when you, General, forced us to play a game of survival with you a few minutes ago!"

"Ah, but it was impressive that you, my dear cadet, survived against my very onslaught of attacks," Sephiroth countered with a barely noticeable smirk on his lips. "Was it not also considered impressive that you, along with your two SOLDIER friends beside you, took down the professor's prototype monster? I'm sure you did so, for you would not be standing here right now if that weren't the case. If those are not impressive acts that you have done within this building, then please tell me what is?"

"I believe we're getting a bit off-topic here," Angeal intervened. "We didn't come up here just so we can exchange words on what we felt was an impressive feat. The three of us came up here in hopes that we can get some answers."

"And what is it that you three would like to have answered by me?" the president asked as he put down his papers and looked intently at the trio standing in front of him. "Just say whatever it is that's on your mind and I'll try to answer as best as I can and, hopefully, to your satisfaction."

"Then let's start out by me asking this question: Are you truly planning on using the creatures that are inside this building as tools of terrorism when deals struck up with other towns and villages don't end your way?"

"That's a bit of a harsh way of saying it," the man said in a calm tone. "However, if you want to put it that way, then I suppose it could be true. I just simply plan on using them as incentive for when the people I'm dealing with fail to see the errors of their ways and admit that I am right."

"And what if things end up getting out of hand?" Zack asked as he tried to keep his cool. "What are you going to do when the creatures start to get out of control and destroy everything around the place you sent them to?"

"What am I going to do? That's easy; I'll do nothing. It would be their fault in the first place for not seeing things my way. Whatever happens to them after they refuse to make a deal with me is none of my concern. If their town gets destroyed and killed by the creatures, then that is there problem."

"A bit over the top on that, aren't we sir?" Sephiroth asked as his voice was laced with the smallest amount of shock. "Don't you suppose that if the creatures are left to destroy a town or village, what's to stop them from beginning to wander around in search of more things to kill? It's not a far stretch to say that they might actually destroy the places that are already within your rule."

"I don't see any problem with that, General. In fact, I see it as a plus side to having them roam free throughout the planet. If they destroy all the towns under my control, then so be it. I'll just think of it as an easy way to clear out any rebel groups that have made their base there and rebuild it."

"Are you truly in your right mind when you say all that, President Shinra?" Angeal asked as his voice reflected the disbelief that was also on his face. "Do you even have any idea what the implications are of all this if it were to get out of hand? Countless lives will be at stake the moment even one of these things is allowed to set foot outside of this building. These things can easily take over the entire planet if and when given the chance to do so. So far, there all isolated throughout this building; it'll only be a matter of time, though, before one of them manages to break out and start killing everybody in Midgar. Once there done here, they'll start to spread out and start to move to other unsuspecting towns and kill everybody there. Pretty soon, we humans might cease to exist if it ever gets that far out of hand."

"Oh, it'll never get that far out of hand," Hojo stated in an overly cocky tone. "After all, only Midgar itself shall have the necessary defenses to protect its people from the creatures. No other place shall be as sophisticated as this city to have such a defensive system placed around their land. People would have no choice but to come fleeing to this city and hiding behind our very gates."

"We will truly be the rulers of Gaia with the help of these creatures," President Shinra stated very proudly. "Yes, may people will die as a result of the initial attacks from the monsters. However, once they start to wise up at what's happening around them, they'll soon see that Midgar is the only place left for them to find shelter from the Hell that has been unleashed upon the world. The thought of me even rebuilding the destroyed villages and towns shall be but a mere distant idea that'll never take place for they shall become obsolete. Midgar shall become the rulers of the people who come behind our gates in search of protection. The Shinra Company's word shall be the absolute law. Any who don't abide by it shall be sent outside the city walls and face their fate with the monsters. It's as simple as that."

At this explanation, all three standing in front of the platinum desk stood in complete shock. They could not believe what they had just heard coming out from the president's own mouth. He was planning on ruling the entire planet through fear and death alone. He was planning on having everybody on Gaia relocate to Midgar and live under his rule for the rest of their lives in return for safety against the very creatures that were right now littering this entire building.

"If you don't mind me saying so, President Shinra," Sephiroth said as he broke the silence that had been between all of them. "I feel that your plan is a bit on the side of extremities. How will you be able to rule all of Gaia if, in actuality, you're really planning on ruling this city with everybody seeking refuge behind these walls? By your explanation of how things will unfold, the land outside of Midgar shall be nothing more than a barren wasteland devoid of life and filled with the creatures of death. Your reign won't extend any farther than the walls of this great city if you do things exactly as you plan them to happen."

"One doesn't need to have control over everything in order to be considered the ruler of something, General Sephiroth," the president stated as he stood up from his chair and looked at the man. "One must only need to have the scale tipped drastically into his favor in order to achieve something such as that. That is what I am planning to do in this case; have the scales tipped in my favor and lead everybody on this planet to believe that only I can offer them true protection. Winning the trust of everybody is another way to become a ruler, and that is what I set out to do."

"So you're going to cause everybody to feel insecure about their own safety and use it to manipulate them?" Zack concluded as his tone started to steadily gain a furious side to it. "Do you even understand what it is that going to do? What you're thinking of is going to kill countless people! Forget about being an absolute ruler of this planet. Think about all the lives that you're planning to get rid of all for the sake of making this city into the ultimate figurehead! These monsters are nothing but cold-blooded killers and they shouldn't be allowed to set even one foot outside of this building!"

"They shouldn't have even been allowed to be set free within this building in the first place!" Cloud added angrily as he thought about all the damage and death that had taken place over the last couple of hours. "You already knew that they were dangerous before you even allowed for them to roam around freely! Yet you still wanted to have a demonstration of their powers and unleashed them all over this place! Think about all of the people who worked under you and trusted you that have died because of your foolish decision and thoughts!"

"There is nothing to think about here, cadet," the man said as he walked around the desk and stood a couple of feet in front of the trio. "Every person in this building, with the exception of the professor and the General standing beside me, were total fools in thinking that they could trust me. They didn't die because of my, as you so nicely put it, foolish decisions to unleash the power of the monsters within this building. Rather, they died simply because they chose to trust me when they shouldn't have in the first place. If fault should be placed for the deaths of the people in here, then it should be placed on the people themselves. It's as simple as that."

"How dare you place the weight of your crimes upon another's shoulders, especially those who are already dead?!" Angeal exclaimed angrily as he balled his fists in rage. "Do you truly have no shame at all of the things you've done here tonight? Do you really plan on living with all the deaths you caused here tonight weighing down on your very soul? Are you really going to just throw away your honor just like that and not even bother to redeem it?"

"Don't talk to me about honor, my dear SOLDIER," the president said as he turned his back on them. "Honor is something best left for children's tales. It has no place in the real world nor should a soon-to-be ruler like myself have to bother with something so ridiculously silly.

"Now, if you excuse me, I must get back to my work here," he sighed as he took a seat on his chair and started to sift through his papers again. "I grow weary of this conversation and I have a few loose ends that I must tie up before I move onto the next phase of our plans."

"Hey, we're not even close to being finished with you yet, you stupid president!" Zack shouted angrily as he made a move towards the man behind the desk. However, he did not even move two steps before an insanely long and thin blade was positioned right at his neck, thus preventing him from progressing any further.

"Unfortunately for you, you are," Professor Hojo stated in a happy tone. "The president here is terribly busy now and he must work on finishing these papers. They are, after all, the official documents stating that I have the permission and the full discretion to create more of my precious creatures. He must have them signed as soon as possible so we can get on with our plans here."

"Unfortunately for you, professor, you are wrong on that accord," Sephioroth corrected the man as he kept his blade aimed at the young SOLDIER teen's neck ,thus keeping the other two planted firmly on their feet next to the boy. "The president had best not sign the papers now. After all, I feel that there is still an important matter that needs to be discussed before we move on any further."

"And what else is there that we need to discuss further before I am to sign these documents, general?" President Shinra asked as he looked up from his papers and put down a fountain pen he had just taken out of his suit pocket.

"I am afraid that that is not for you to know, sir," the silver haired man simply answered as he shifted his gaze towards the professor. "This is a private matter that is between only Professor Hojo and me."

"And what private matter would you be talking about, my good general?" the professor asked as he used a tone that feigned innocence. "I'm afraid that I have no idea as to what you are talking about here."

"Oh, I'm sure you know perfectly well what I'm talking about here. In fact, we had a discussion about that not only yesterday evening. I do hope, for your sake, that you have not forgotten what we had spoken about then."

"Oh, that discussion! Well, I feel now that that is not something that should be done. After all, now that I am about to have the ability to create more of my magnificent creatures, I don't see any real need to continue on with our private plans. It will have no place in the new world that is about to be created."

"Is that so?" the general asked as he shifted his sword around a bit in a suspicious manner. "Might I ask that you reconsider that thought? I would hate to have to do something here all because of your sudden refusal to my simple request without any reasonable explanations."

"Hmm, are you threatening me, general? Just so you know, empty threats such as the ones your spewing out right now have no effect on me. I am not a man who is easily intimidated and manipulated through fear. No, rather, I enjoy it. I enjoy causing fear to loom its shadow over the unsuspecting people. You can't scare a man who loves to scare others such as myself."

For a single moment, the entire room was silent. Not a single sound or word was heard from any of the six people in the room. Even the president was quiet and chose to shift his eyes between the general and professor. They were obviously speaking of something that he had no knowledge of and all he could do was listen and hope to figure something out.

"…Very well then," Sephiroth said with a sigh as he broke the silence. "You leave me with no choice on the matter. Are you sure that there is no way that you will be able to change your mind on the matter?"

"No matter how many times you ask me the same question, I shall always supply to you the same answer," Hojo explained as he shook his head at the man. "Nothing you say or do now can change my mind on the matter."

"Oh, I believe I can think of one way to effectively change your mind on this," the general stated as a small smile, one that spoke of a mysterious evil, started to spread across his face. "In fact, I'm sure you'll start seeing things my way once I do this."

"What is it that you're planning on doing here, Sephiroth?" President Shinra asked with mild confusion etched in his voice. "What is it that you and Professor Hojo are talking about here? I demand that you tell me or I shall not sign these papers. What is it that you both are withholding from me?"

Suddenly, the general moved in a lightning quick pace. It was so quick; no one had time to even react to whatever it was that he was going to do. Even Zack staggered back a bit in shock as the offending blade from the silver haired man suddenly left his neck and only left a brief chill in its place. Out of reflexes, he placed his hands on his neck as if he were slashed by the blade there when in actuality he was not.

As he was doing this, the sound of a sword piercing through something made itself known throughout the relatively quiet office floor. It was like a squishing sound one heard from boots or shoes that have stepped in a fresh mud puddle, although this sounded much more smoother and disturbing. Another sound was heard the next moment, this time that of a sword being smoothly pulled out of whatever it was that it was embedded in. In accompaniment to the odd gushing sound was the sound of something relatively heavy falling onto something.

Once Cloud, Zack, and Angeal recovered from the shock at seeing such a sudden movement, they allowed their eyes to rest upon the general's body. In his left hand was his sword, the blade now covered in a crimson liquid halfway down from the tip. When they looked beyond the man and towards the president's desk, they saw something even more shocking than the sudden movement.

There, lying on his desk with his head towards the side, was President Shinra. His eyes were open and bore the same expression he had on before the sudden movement came. However, his eyes seemed oddly empty and dull. It was as though as if he were in a day-dreamy state and did not seem to register anything that has happened.

The three of them knew that look well. They have seen it many times within this building from all of the dead bodies and zombies that they have passed by on their way up here. They were the eyes that the dead had. That could only mean one thing: President Shinra was now dead, lying slump on his platinum desk and covering the papers that he was to sign. Sephiroth had killed him with one swift movement that nobody saw coming. He had snuffed the life out of the man before he even knew what killed him.

"I believe that you will now start to see things my way, Professor Hojo," the general said as he allowed a disturbing disturbing smile to grace his lips. "In fact, I am certain that you will now have no choice but to reconsider your position on the matter at hand now."


	25. The Truth Behind the Truth

**Chapter 24: The _Truth_ Behind the Truth**

"I believe that you will now start to see things my way, Professor Hojo," Sephiroth said as he allowed a small disturbing smile to grace his lips. "In fact, I am certain that you will now have no choice but to reconsider your position on the matter at hand now."

For a few silent moments, nobody in the entire room dared to move a single muscle. All of them, with the exception of the General, were in total shock at what they had just saw and could not get their brains to form even a single coherent thought. It was Angeal who soon broke the silence; although he had to take a few deep breaths and contend with a few failed attempts before he did so. Even then, he was barely able to voice the sole thought that had managed to make itself clear within his nearly paralyzed mind.

"S-Sephiroth!" the SOLDIER exclaimed in a barely audible whisper as his completely numbed mind was finally able to comprehend what he had just bore witness to. "Wh-what in the name of Gaia did you just do?! You…you… You just killed the president! You just killed him right in front of all of us!"

"Humph, so he did," Professor Hojo calmly replied through slightly clenched teeth. "It's a pity that he had to result to such tactics just so he can achieve his own personal goals. No doubt he did so while thinking on trying to threaten my own life. Unfortunately, you did a very poor job in trying to get your message across to me. Just because you killed someone right in front of me in such a quick and uncaring fashion doesn't mean that I'm going to be quivering in my shoes right in front of your very presence wondering when you're going to raise that very sword against me. I'm not that kind of a person, in case you haven't noticed."

"Fortunately for you, that was not what I had in mind, professor," the General replied as he brought the sword to his side and allowed the blood to drip onto the floor from the tip of the blade. "I did take notice in your demeanor and noted that you were not one who was easy to frighten. No; me killing the president here had nothing to do with trying to scare you or anything along the lines of that. In fact, I had a completely different idea in mind altogether."

"And what, may I ask, would that be, my dear General?" he asked as he allowed his intrigue to sound out in his voice, completely ignoring the three shocked people that were still in the room. "What was it that you had planned out for me when you decided to kill the good president? If it was not to threaten my life, then please tell me as to what your intentions were."

"I already told you; I wanted you to reconsider your decision in accordance to the private discussion that we held last night in your office. I would like for you to see things my way."

"And you hope to accomplish that by killing the very man who was about to make good use with my creations? That seems like a very poor way to achieve your plans. I've said it once before and I'll say it again; threatening my life by killing another will not sway my mind."

"And I already said that that was not my intent from the very moment I decided to end the pitiful man's life. No, I had another intention in mind that bears no harm upon you. The president was about to sign some papers that would give you total leniency to manufacture more monsters, am I right?"

"Yes, you're right on that accord," Hojo said as he thought about where this whole conversation was leading up to. "But what does that have to do with you killing the president?"

"Well, I suggest that you try and think about it for a moment," Sephiroth said as he lightly tapped his temple with his right pointer finger. "After all, thinking is something that you should theoretically know how to do best. If you still don't know, then allow me to indulge to you the answer. I killed President Shinra because he is the only man with the authority to sign those very papers granting you leniency. If he is killed before he does so, then your leniency shall not be in place and therefore, you shall not be allowed to create more of your creatures with the safety of the president's words protecting you."

For a moment, the two of them were dead silent; the professor was taking in all of the words spewed at him and the General calmly looking at the man with stoic and unreadable eyes. Zack, Cloud, and even Angeal only stood there silently for they still did not completely get over the shock of seeing the General himself kill President Shinra with his very own blade.

"Heh, so that was your plan, was it?" the professor finally said after a few seconds of silence followed closely with a bitter laugh. "You decided to kill an innocent man all for the sake of putting a stopper to my plans?"

"It seems as though you're starting to realize the truth behind my actions," Sephiroth said as he smiled his disturbing smile. "Although I hardly consider the president an innocent man, what with what he has already done tonight and all of the other times in the past. His hands are too dirty with his victims' blood to be considered an innocent man anymore. His soul has traveled on the path to Hell for far too long to become even remotely salvageable."

"So what if his supposed soul was too far down the path towards Hell?" the man said as irritation began to form in his words. "I would suppose that you would say that mine is also too far down the same path as him."

"I sure as Hell would say that!" Zack huffed out as he finally broken out of his shocked spell and gazed at the two in front of him in complete anger. "In fact, I say that both of you are practically knocking on Hell's door and waiting for Gaia knows who to open it up for you! You two are completely insane!"

"Now, I wouldn't go around and say that about me, Zackary," Sephiroth said as he allowed a small arrogant smile to grace his lips. "I am not the insane one here. Rather, it is the good Professor Hojo who has walked off the road of sanity. I an still a very sane and very calculative man."

"To Hell you are!" the SOLDIER teen shouted as his mind barely registered that Angeal was not trying to hold him back in any way this time around. "A very sane and calculative man doesn't go around agreeing with two killers and then ends up killing the president of the company all for the sake of personal gain! I'd rather think of you as an _in_sane and _un-_calculative man!"

"It doesn't matter what kind of man he is," Hojo stated as he began to walk over to the president's body and attempt to salvage some of the papers underneath his body that had not yet been soaked in crimson liquid. "What matters now is that I now don't have the authority nor resources to create more monsters."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, professor," the General stated stoically as he plunged his sword through the metal floor, causing it to stand upright. "You can still obtain the resources and authority to create more of your monstrosities. After all, I believe the rules dictate that I, as General of the SOLDIERs, shall assume the role as temporary president of the company if and when the untimely demise of the current president has occurred. This shall hold true until a new person is officially appointed or his own child comes and announces the title for himself. Seeing as neither of those two possibilities are bound to happen any time soon, I am currently now the president stand-in for the Shinra Company.

"That goes without saying that I now have the authority to sign the very papers granting you full authority and the resources to make your creations," he continued on as he continued to look only at the silent scientist. "Of course, I shall only sign those very papers once you've reconsidered your decision on the topic we had discussed about last night."

"…And so the General shows his true colors, huh?" the professor said with a small uncharacteristic snort. "I see now why you so willingly killed the president of this great company. You did what you did just so you would have the chance at stopping me from achieving what I want. In return, you say that you now have the authority to grant me what I want provided that I see eye to eye with you in accordance to our prior discussion. My, you really are a childish General."

"Not childish; more like practical and, as much as young Zackary does not want to admit it, calculative. Life is full of hurtles that one must overcome before they are able to obtain what they so desire. Just as you have sent me one of those hurtles, I have conveniently placed one right in your very path."

"Humph, you're really not giving me much of a choice on the matter here. How do I know, though, that you won't just end up killing me like you did with President Shinra? It's not too far of a stretch to think of you killing me off without any notice whatsoever like you did with him."

"Heh, it's true that you do not know if and when I might kill you. However, the same could also be said about those three. You do not know whether or not they will kill you once I leave this room. I believe it would be a better choice if you were to see eye to eye with me on this."

"I don't believe that the professor has much of a choice in whether or not he wants to go and participate in whatever diabolical scheme you have going on inside that calm head of yours," Angeal interrupted, his voice clearly saying that he had had enough with he conversation the professor and his best friend were engaged in. "The Turks have specific orders for Zack and Cloud to find him alive and escort him out of the building. He is not to go anywhere with anybody else nor are we to place any harm upon him."

"The Turks ordered for his extraction out of the Shinra building?" Sephiroth asked with slight intrigue dancing in his throat. "And they asked for Zackary and the cadet to take on the task? If that's so, then why are you here aiding them with the mission, Angeal?"

"Because I wanted to help them," the older SOLDIER replied with an uncharacteristic bite in his words. "Is it a crime to want to help a fellow SOLDIER and his cadets with a mission?"

"No, it's just very uncharacteristic of you. Normally, you would just let your fellow SOLDIERs take care of their responsibilities and not try to help them out. Why the sudden change in attitude?"

"There was no sudden change in attitude on my part. It just so happened that I ran into the person who issued the mission to the two of them, and I got permission to go along with them.

"Speaking of sudden changes," he continued as he never broke his gaze from the silver haired SOLDIER, "why are you acting like this, Sephiroth? This isn't the person who I have come to befriend all those years ago. Why are you siding with those who are bent on trying to control the planet and everybody that resides on it? I thought you said you joined SOLDIER for the sole purpose of protecting those who are incapable of doing so themselves?"

For a brief moment, the General stood silent as he met his friend's gaze with great intensity and never faltered under it. Although his face showed no emotion, Angeal could tell that he was contemplating on how to phrase his next words. The very subtle and barely noticeable twitch of his left eyebrow gave it away. Other people might have not noticed such a small movement, but Angeal, Sephiroth's good friend for many years, did not miss it and saw it as plain as day. To him, it was one of the most obvious things he could ever see.

"…It's true that that was my intention when I first came here," Sephiroth finally answered as he allowed a small sigh to escape his lips. "I did come here in hopes of better protecting those who were incapable of doing so themselves. However, as time went on, I began to see the impossibility of achieving such a goal. Through the many travels I have embarked on for this company, I came to see just how worthless most of the people living on this planet are. Most of them are not even worth helping, yet the president always seemed intent on taking control of such worthless towns. It's such a pitiful waste of manpower and resources."

"And what is it that you're trying to tell us here with your rambling?" Zack asked as he moved closer to professor Hojo so he could quickly grab him if he decided to run off again. "Are you saying that you decided to change your mind sometime during your time here in the Shinra Army and go against everybody who lives on this planet?"

"If you want to put it that way Zackary, then yes," the General said stoically as he tore his gaze away from his friend and reset it to rest on the young SOLDIER. "I'd rather think of it as having my eyes opened to the reality that is this very planet we live on called Gaia. It is nothing more than a place where the pitiful and defenseless come to live, taking up much of the space needed for those who have some use on this small planet. Such people shouldn't even be allowed existence on this planet."

"…How can you say something like that, General?" Cloud asked shocked at what he was hearing. "How can you just stand there so calmly and say that many of the people on this planet are nothing but worthless men who can't do anything to protect themselves or others? Not everybody is suited to defend themselves from the dangers that lurk on this planet. Not all have that kind of skill on them. That doesn't mean, though, that their existence on this planet should be denied. Everybody has something about them that allows them the right to be living on this planet. Nobody should be denied that right to live a full life here on Gaia."

"That's not what I am trying to allude to here, young cadet. What I am saying is that our very society is but a fragile one. No amount of fixing could ever make it into what it is supposed to be. That's why I am planning on finding a way to not only change, but to also regulate a new society that will be ruled by me and a choice few who happen to see things my way."

"Y-you're planning to do what?!" Angeal exclaimed as his eyes widen in shock. "You're planning on creating a new society in which to govern the inhabitants of Gaia and replace our current one?"

"Quite a fascinating idea, isn't it?" Professor Hojo asked with a smile. "Even I have never thought of such a possibility. If his idea can be successfully brought to light, then the Shinra Company can easily have the entire planet within the palm of its hand. Unfortunately, to do so would require resources that are near impossible to get, even for the Shinra Company. It's almost like asking to suck the entire Gaia Ocean dry. It's near impossible to achieve."

"Yet has that ever stopped the president from attempting to achieve what he so wanted?" Sephiroth asked as he looked to the corpse of said man on the table. "Has that kind of attitude ever prohibited him from playing his cards, regardless of how bad it seemed? No; it never did. I do not see why you cannot follow his attitude and take risks that are necessary for this plan to succeed."

"I am a man of science," the professor stated, ignoring the scoffing sound that was emitted from both Zack and Cloud. "As such, I am also a man of reason. I know when things are just too farfetched to even attempt. It's true that the late president did commit to a few moves that were less than strategic, but his decisions always held at least a modicum of success to it. What you're asking holds, in terms of success, close to none. Even if such a thing were possible, it would probably take years before such a thing could be made into reality. The project would very well surpass our very life spans."

"Then I suggest that we find a way to exponentially speed up the process," the General said as he shuffled his feet a bit. "With every experiment, there must be a catalyst that can help speed up the process."

"Well, then I guess then that we can be comforted in that thought," the young SOLDIER said somewhat happily with a small sigh accompanying it. "I may not know a whole lot about things that have to do with science, but I know that it's hard to find certain things that can help speed up the process of an experiment. If it does take as long as the professor says it would for your plan to create a new society, then there's no way that your plans will work out. All you're doing is fighting for an empty cause at the end of the day."

"Heh, heh, heh," the silver haired man laughed as he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, that's very true. However, that's only when you choose to look at it on the surface. When you look past it, then you see even more."

"Wh-what?! What are you talking about?"

"Humph, always quick to jump to conclusions, aren't you? It's no wonder Angeal likes to call you a restless puppy. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you do not have the full story implanted into your minds. All you know is what the professor and I have been talking about for the past few minutes. What you do not know is that I have already found a possible catalyst for my plans."

"Y-you what?!" Angeal exclaimed as he felt his breath leave him, causing him to give out his answer in a somewhat wheezy tone. "You...already found a way to speed up your plans?"

"Need I remind you that this whole thing is only in the experimental stage?" Hojo stated with a small sigh and a shake of his head. "It has not yet been finalized that what the General is hypothesizing is a suitable catalyst for his plans in creating a new society. For all we know, it could be the very thing that drives his very idea right into the ground with no hopes of reviving it."

"It's true that it has not yet been identified as a way to speed up the process of my plans," Sephiroth admitted. "However, if Mako can help you in the creation of your creatures, then surely the origin point of Mako can be used to create a new society for Gaia."

"The origin point of Mako?" Cloud repeated dumbly as he tried to digest what was spewing out from the General's mouth. "Mako has an origin point?"

"Yes, it does," Angeal explained in a low tone. "Mako is said to be the very essence of the planet. It is more commonly referred to as the Lifestream. You're not actually thinking of using the Lifestream to help you with your conquest of the planet, are you?"

"I wouldn't call it a conquest, my good friend," the General corrected the older SOLDIER with a slight disapproving wag of his finger. "I'd rather think of it as finding a way to correct the problems that are present on Gaia's surface. If I can only just find a way to utilize the Lifestream to suit my ideas, then everything will fall into place. Actually, I've already found a way to use it to my advantage."

"And just how do you plan on using the Lifestream for your twisted ideas, General?" Zack asked as his voice was laced with disbelief. "The last time I checked, the only way for one to even be able to remotely have good access to the place without having to condense it into Mako is to be dead. If you're dead, then there's no way for you to put your plans into action."

"Heh, who said anything about me dying just to get access to the Lifestream? I've never said anything to that effect."

"…So what are you saying here?" Angeal asked after a moment of hesitation. "Do you know of another way to gain access to the Lifestream, the place where those who have died go to rejoin Gaia until they are called upon to roam her surface once again, without letting yourself die?"

"You always were able to come up with the right explanations, even in times when you're flustered and normally not able to do so," Sephiroth complimented his friend with a small smile. "That was always a great quality about you. You're absolutely right; I have found a possible way to access the sacred stream of life without having to let myself die just to get to it."

"But that's impossible!" the young SOLDIER exclaimed. "You can't just have access to the Lifestream while you're alive. It's just plain impossible!"

"At first glance, that's what it seems," the General explained rather cockily while retaining his calm, stoic tone. "However, if you would just take the time to look past the surface of the water and not just jump to your hasty conclusions, then you would be able to see that such a feat is more than possible."

"W-wait a minute," Cloud whispered in a shaky breath as he seemingly realized something. "Y-you're not thinking about doing something catastrophic to the planet's surface, are you General?"

"What are you talking about, Cloud? What's all this about something catastrophic to the planet?"

"Have you ever heard about the legends that the people of Cosmo Canyon talk about in regards to the planet, Zack?" the blond asked as he saw the raven haired teen nod slightly in acknowledgement. "Their stories say that the Lifestream is practically the very blood of Gaia itself. They say that it holds a few things in common with humans. One example is that whenever there's some kind of damage done on the surface of Gaia, the Lifestream will begin to gather around the 'wound' and heal itself. If the damage is small, then it would only take a little bit of time and energy to restore the place back to its original form."

"But if the damage done is catastrophic, then it'll take a lot more of the Lifestream's energy to recover the lost land," Zack finished as he finally realized where the cadet was leaning towards. "If the damage is so severe, then the energy from the planet would become more concentrated in that particular area. That's where the General would be able to use the energy for his plans! That's how he's planning on speeding up his plans without having to let himself die!"

"Well, you two learn pretty quickly," Sephiroth complimented them in a stoic fashion. "I could not have said it better myself. That's exactly what I am planning to do here. I am planning on causing extensive damage upon the planet's surface; so much so that it would take an immense amount of energy to fix the land. It is from there that I plan to merge the Lifestream with the professor's experiments and allow for the stream to be contaminated with the blood of his creatures."

"…So that's how you're planning on forcibly creating a new society for the planet to live by," Angeal said with a sad sigh as he shook his head with a mixture of shock and disappointment at his friend. "You're going to contaminate the very stream of life so that any soul that's chosen to roam the surface once more would already be monster. Is that the full extent of your plans?"

"Except for a minor misinterpretation of your version of the facts, you're quite right Angeal," the General said. "You see, not every person who is chosen to roam the surface would become a creature. That is where my role comes in. I plan to make myself become one with the Lifestream, so I'll be able to govern everything that happens on this planet. I will be able to see who is strong and deserves a place on the planet. I shall become the true ruler of this planet."

"But there's no guarantee that your idea will work," the older SOLDIER replied as he had an unreadable look on his face. "There are so many things in your plans that have no assurance that they'll work. Your plan requires the greatest perfection that one could only hope to achieve. You can't possibly infect the stream with the professor's experiments and then expect yourself to be able to become one with it and control everything that goes on within it. Besides, how are you even going to be able to cause such great damage upon the planet's surface? That in itself is already a near impossible task for a person to do. Only a natural occurrence could cause that damage that you're proposing to create."

"Are you sure about that, my friend? It does not necessarily have to be a natural occurrence in order to cause such significant damage. All one needs in order to create such a chaotic scene are the necessary cards in his hands. I believe I have all the cards I need to play in order to win this game."

"You're bluffing, General!" Zack exclaimed as he pointed an accusing finger at the man. "What you're saying is nothing but an impossibility. There's nothing on this entire planet that has so much power to it that it would allow you to cause so much damage to the planet's surface in one go."

"Heh, heh, heh," Sephiroth simply laughed at the accusation from the young SOLDIER in a soft and disturbing way. "You're saying that there's no such thing on this planet that can cause such troubling damage upon Gaia's surface? Are you quite sure about that, Zackary? I assure you, you won't be thinking the same way once you take a moment to dwell on the thought. Tell me; where is it that you are currently standing on right now?"

"Wh-what?" the raven haired teen asked confused. "Wh-what do you mean, 'Where am I standing on right now?' We're standing inside the Shinra Company Headquarter building on the president's floor."

"Very good, young SOLDIER," he said in a mock compliment tone that still somehow kept his original stoic-ness. "And what exactly does this company use as its main source of power and energy?"

"It…extracts the power from the Lifestream and converts it into pure Mako," Cloud responded when his friend was unable to do so. "It then uses the Mako to provide power to the city of Midgar and ships it out to other towns that either demand it or are in the Shinra Company's control."

"That is correct, cadet. Now, let us have Professor Hojo explain things in better detail from here. Professor, just what exactly does the process of extracting the power of the Lifestream from beneath the planet's surface does to the area surrounding the site of extraction?"

"It causes the land to rot and decay," Hojo explained with a twisted smile as he seemed to know where the General was leading them with his logic. "Over time, the land would become nothing but a barren wasteland, unable to sustain any kind of plant life. That is exactly what has happened to the surrounding area here. The very blood of the planet had been sucked away from underneath us. Ironic, isn't it? The one thing that you thought could greatly benefit us in terms of living is actually the very thing that sustains the planet itself. The legends surrounding the Lifestream and its relation with the planet is not just that; it's the reality.

"Unfortunately, the only thing that's preventing Gaia from healing itself is the surface of the planet," the professor continued on as the trio were busy trying to comprehend the information concerning the Lifestream and the planet inside their overwhelmed minds. "The land has not yet broken down despite the immense drainage of energy underneath it. Therefore, all this area should need in order to break down completely is to sustain catastrophic damage. Once that has been done, the Lifestream will start to flow at an enormous rate to this area in an attempt to heal the wound done to it. It will be from there that the General will enact his plans in full force once the stream has become concentrated enough."

"Hmm, it sounds as though you're starting to agree with my plan now, professor," Sephiroth noted with a curt nod of his head. "Are you starting to change your mind and consider my ideas?"

"Now that you have given me all the details concerning it, I am more than happy to help with your plans," the professor replied happily. "I only wished that you told me about it sooner. Therefore, there would have been no need for you to have killed President Shinra in such a fashion."

"Unfortunately, I still feel that that would have been necessary," the General replied. "You see, he is a man who likes to have the feel of absolute power in the palm of his hands. If I were to tell him about my plans, then he would have no doubt refuse to sign the papers that would allow you full ability to make more creatures. Even if I had told him about it after he signed the papers, he still reserves the right to void whatever it is that he had signed. So in the end, it was very necessary for me to have killed him. You just allowed me to do so sooner than I had expected it to."

"I would rather have preferred that you didn't go and kill the man, Sephiroth," Angeal interjected as he let a small growl reverberate from the back of his throat. "Have you ever once thought about the immense consequences of your plans should they fail drastically to take flight? Don't you know what deadly problems could arise if your idea ends up getting completely out of hand or goes the wrong way? Do you have any idea at all at how dangerous this whole thing you're trying to make into a reality is? It could potentially destroy everything on this planet."

"I don't believe that that should be of great importance nor concern, my good friend," the silver haired man stated rather plainly. "After all, I am beyond certain that my plans on creating a new society for Gaia are completely foolproof. That and I have the professor to aid me in the process. I'm sure he would not even think about passing up such an opportune moment to further study the Lifestream since I plan to be governing it while I'm alive."

"Oh, of course I will help you with the entire process, my good General," Hojo stated happily as he gave an eager grin and clapped his hands together. "It's every scientist's dream to have a chance to study the Lifestream up close and personal. I can barely even begin to comprehend the thought of being the very first scientist to be able to explore such a mysterious field. Oh, just think of all the things I'll be able to figure out from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Ugh, you two are absolutely insane!" Zack exclaimed in disgust as he made a face of the same caliber at the two. "Do you really honestly think that you'll be able to take control of the entire planet by attempting to take over the Lifestream? You two don't even know if such a thing is possible to do. You're both willing to risk your lives over something with an outcome that can't even be foreseen by you ? You're both beyond crazy!"

"Zack, calm down," Angeal said for the first time since they first came up to the office and discovered all this frustration as he tried to clear up his own head that was being flooded with so much new and disturbing revelations. "I think it's time that the three of us gather up our thoughts and start thinking more rationally rather than settling for angry outbursts at every new thing they tell us about their plans. All this shock and surprise is definitely not going to be of any help to our situation."

"Besides, I don't think we have anything to merit such great worry with their plans," the older SOLDIER continued on as he refocused his gaze at the General and the professor. "If they're really planning on causing significant damage on Gaia's surface at this place, then that is still a near impossibility. Even though this area is weaker than other parts of the planet, it would still take an enormous amount of energy to cause damage that would merit the Lifestream to become quite concentrated. I don't see how they would be able to conduct something like that."

"Oh, to do damage of that caliber is more than possible from where we're currently standing at," the silver haired man answered with a twisted smile gracing his lips. "Don't you remember how the extraction process is done here? This company has lots of pipes leading down into the Earth and into the Lifestream itself. The pipes then extend all around this place in a five-mile radius. Just think of what would happen if we forced all of those fragile pipes to explode? The trigger device: The self-destruction of the Shinra Company; thus, causing a major explosion of the entire city itself and forcing the pipes to go along with it."

"Th-the self-destruction of the city of Midgar?!" Cloud repeated with a panicked stutter as he tried to get his mind to understand what he had just heard. "Y-you're not seriously thinking of something like that, are you General? I-I mean, just think of all the people that'll be killed if you do that!"

"Humph, what's a few people dying in comparison to the discoveries that could be made once their lives are sacrificed?" Hojo asked with an evil smirk and a laugh to match it. "To me, all lives are the same; the people are sent from the Lifestream to live out their lives and are soon sent back in, only to repeat the process once again. Simply ending their lives sooner is but a way to quicken that cycle for many people. It makes no difference whether or not they die because of this. In the end, they'll end up dying for the sake of progression. I'm sure that they'd rather die like that than having done nothing of great importance in this lifetime of theirs."

"But… But what do you think you'll be able to do when you begin the self-destruct sequence?" Zack asked as his face turned into a snarl. "I'm sure you know that the entire ground floor is inaccessible because of all the professor's creatures roaming around down there. I'm sure even you, General, would have a hard time trying to just get out of the elevator, even with your great swordsmanship skills. There's practically no way for you and the professor to get out of here once you put that part of your plan into action."

"I suggest that you don't think any less of my skills than you already know, Zackary," the General warned the young SOLDIER. "I am more than capable to get myself and the professor out of this building from the ground floor. The real question that you should be asking yourselves is if you three would be able to get out before this entire city blows up."

"Do you even know how to activate the self-destruct system in this building?" Angeal asked as he narrowed his eyes a bit. "I doubt that even you as the General of the SOLDIERs would be graced with such knowledge."

"Unfortunately for you, I know of the location of the trigger device for the self-destruct sequence. After all, I believe it was Professor Hojo who created the system a few years ago when he just became the head of the science department."

"You know, I had almost forgotten about that system I made for this place years ago," the professor said as he scrunched his face a bit in thought. "I'm quite glad that you remembered and were able to remind me about it. With the current condition that land around this city is in, a self-destruct sequence shall be more than enough to have the Lifestream gather and become very concentrated for your ideas. That is not a bad plan at all, General."

"…It looks like you have the cards playing in your favor, Sephiroth," Angeal hesitated to say as he groaned a bit in disbelief. "How long have you been waiting for this moment to arrive?"

"And what would possess you to ask me that question in such a random fashion, Angeal?" Sephiroth inquired as he raised a questioning eyebrow. "As far as I know, you never were the type to ask questions like that."

"It seems all to coincidental that you were able to cover up all of the holes in your plan for creating a new society for Gaia with this one incident that has taken place here tonight," the man explained. "In fact, it seems as though everything that you have been planning has been leading up to this very night. So, I'll ask you again; how long have you been having this plan in your head?"

"Unfortunately, you never were one to believe in coincidences such as this," the General said with a sigh. "I came up with this plan a week ago, and I confided my ideas to Professor Hojo here only last night. Everything that has happened here tonight was purely coincidental in the fact that it was able to allow me the opportunity to seal up the gaping holes in my plan and speed up the process of having it become a reality at the same time. Whether you want to believe it or not, that is up to you. The fact of the matter is that everything that has happened here in the Shinra Company building tonight was, as I said earlier, purely coincidental."

"And we're supposed to believe you on that after everything we have seen and heard here?" Cloud retorted as he clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "How are we supposed to know that having us meet you two up here in the president's office isn't also just another part of your demented plans to rule the planet or something even worse than that?"

"Humph, I still can't believe that you three actually managed to survive against all of the monsters that I have unleashed within this building," the professor snorted in mild disbelief at the fact. "It either means that I haven't made them as strong as they should be, or you're all better than you all lead me to believe."

"No, we're all the same as any other SOLDIER," Zack answered just as he placed a calming hand on the blonde's shoulders. "Cloud here has the skills of a SOLDIER, despite being only a cadet. We have the determination to live through this Hell that you have brought upon this place. If that's not enough, then we're also driven to survive so we can find out the truth behind all of this chaos.

"Also, you seem to be forgetting something, _professor_," he added with an acid tone on the last word. "Don't you remember the other cadet that you were so fascinated with when we showed you his wound he sustained from a monster? Don't you remember Adeus? He also survived the things that you have placed in here. He has the strength of a SOLDIER, just like Cloud here, but is only a cadet himself. He is the one that your experiment is slowly killing right now."

"Yet you left him behind so you could pursue me and hope to scavenge up some remnants of the truth from me? My, how unaffectionate you three are for the ailing of your wounded comrade. I would have figured that you would be busy trying to make his last hours of living more comfortable rather than trying to play a game of cat and mouse with me all the way up to the top floor of this place. How very inconsiderate of you all to do so."

"Why you…!" the young SOLDIER growled out angrily through clenched teeth as he unconsciously tightened his grip on Cloud's shoulder, which caused the cadet to recoil a bit and wince in pain.

"That can't be any more farther from the facts, Professor Hojo," a familiar voice that came from somewhere in the back of the room near the staircases said. "They left the injured cadet in the hands of my men, whom are more than capable to look after him and treat his wounds."

Upon hearing the voice getting progressively closer to their location, Angeal, Zack, and Cloud turned around to see who was approaching them. Sephiroth and Hojo had no need to move for they were already in a position where they were able to simply turn their heads to look in the direction of the newcomer.

Walking towards them was a man in a black suit and tie that looked to have been neatly pressed. He was dressed in the same fashion as the Turks that the trio has seen earlier. This man, though, was a different person. He had long black hair that was tied up into a neat ponytail and was combed back neatly. His face showed that he was from a foreign country; Zack and Angeal knew he was from a faraway village called Wutai while Cloud took an educated guess at it from what he knew about the people from there. He had a certain aura of commanding power around him and his walk was short but powerful. His eyes betrayed none of his inner emotions, yet his stance was able to exude more feeling than words itself could. He was walking as any normal mad did, but a sense of anger seemed to follow him as he approached closer to the people.

"In fact, they're right now administering some kind of serum into his body as we speak," the man said as stopped just a yard away from the group with his arms crossed. "They said something about him suffering some kind of transformation due to being wounded by one of your creations, Professor Hojo."

"Tseng!" Zack exclaimed as he felt a smile of relief come up to his face; Cloud felt himself doing the same while Angeal had enough composure to keep himself from going any further than a small grin. "Y-you finally made it!"

* * *

Hello! I hope you all like this little twist I put into the story. As the title of this chapter suggests, this is the truth behind the truth; in other words, this is a major truth hidden away by a more frantic, yet less important truth. Hojo is not the true bad guy of this story, yet I made sure he played the part well so that he could mislead you a bit. Hope you liked this exciting little twist in the story. Please do not forget to leave a review after you are finished reading. Thank you!


	26. The Lifting of Hell's Deceptive Veil

**Chapter 25: The Lifting of Hell's Deceptive Veil**

"Tseng!" Zack exclaimed as he felt a smile of relief come up to his face; Cloud felt himself doing the same while Angeal had enough composure to keep himself from going any further than a small grin. "I was starting to wonder when you were going to get here! You sure took your sweet time getting here, though."

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Zack," Tseng apologized as he tapped his fingers on his left forearm. "I would have been up here sooner were it not for all of the monsters that were roaming around on virtually every floor in this building. I had arrived here and landed my helicopter ten minutes ago, but the creatures roaming around inside here were truly a force to be reckoned with.

"I believed what you said to me when I last called you an hour or so ago," he man continued on as he shifted his stance a bit. "You told me about the dangers roaming around inside our headquarters; I never imagined that the damage would have escalated to this level in such a short amount of time."

"Tseng," Sephiroth merely said in acknowledgement of the man's presence, "the leader of the Turks, and the late President Shinra's right-hand man. How nice of you to join us in our little discussion. However, I fear that you may have arrived at this meeting a little bit too late. You see, we all have already discussed between ourselves everything that was of great importance. All that is left now are the redundant facts that need to be cleared up."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about me on that, General Sephiroth," the leader of the Turks said as he waved off the sarcastic concern. "I feel that I already know what was discussed between the six of you, including the now deceased president. Actually, I know about the things that you have all talked about."

"Is that so?" Professor Hojo responded with a questioning eyebrow raised at the man. "Well then, if you say you know what we were talking about, then why don't you recap it for us? I honestly find it hard to believe that you know what we were talking about in here."

"Don't underestimate my abilities, professor. Do you forget to what organization I belong to in this company? I am a Turk; Head Turk would be more precise in this matter. We Turks have our ways of easily obtaining sensitive information without being found out. Besides, this is President Shinra's office, is it not? Being the leader of the Turks, it's only natural that I conduct most of my official office business in here. It would only be natural that I have this room bugged for security purposes," the Turk explained as he pulled out a small receiver from his suit pocket and showed it to the man. "Would that explain to you how I know of your plans to gain entry into the Lifestream and take over Gaia through it?"

"Humph, as to be expected from someone that is a Turk," the General said with some amusement breaking through his voice. "Only they would be able to obtain the most sensitive of information without any fear of being caught in the process. Heh, heh, I should have seen that one coming."

"I'm actually quite glad that you didn't find out about it. If you had, then I would not have been able to know without a doubt that you were the one who killed President Shinra with your own two hands. I would also not have known that you were also in league with Professor Hojo and the various experiments he had conducted here. I truly never expected that from you at all, General."

"In all honesty, nobody ever expected me to make a move such as this. That is why I took it upon myself to make such a move while all of you stood by, completely ignorant at what was really going on."

"You may have had Zack, Cloud, and Angeal fooled," Tseng said as he looked at the said trio, "but I had my suspicions about you for a while now. I just had to wait for that one wrong move or slip of the tongue before I could move in against you. Unfortunately, you had to do it right after the professor's experiments were set loose throughout this building."

"Was I really that obvious to you in my intentions?" Sephiroth asked as he had an amused smile on his lips. "I thought that I was doing a good job in keeping up with appearances with those around me."

"You were doing a good job at it," the suited man simply answered. "You practically had me fooled the entire time. It was actually a stroke of luck that I was able to even find reason to suspect you on having something to do with all this. Were it not for the slight out-of-character actions you have done over the past few weeks piling up against you, I would have never even thought of you doing something like this.

"I happened to have a little chat with the professor last night," he began to explain as he recalled the events that occurred with him the night before. "He seemed quite rushed when we were talking and didn't seem interested in what I had to say to him; it was almost as if he didn't want to participate in the discussion in the first place. Once it had ended and he had left, I followed him from a safe distance away to his office where I saw you waiting for him just outside his door. After the both of you went inside, I conspicuously placed a small bug underneath the door as I casually past by and listened in on what you were saying through the same receiver I used to listen in on your recent conversation. It was then that I began to question your intentions here."

"Humph, lucky tenacious bastard," the professor said with an aggressive snort. "I shouldn't have been acting so rushed while I was talking to you. I should have figured you would be able to see right through me."

"That's good for us, then," Zack said as he gave a cocky smile. "Now we have the Turks' help in all this, now that Tseng here knows of the things you've done here. We've got this in the bag."

"Don't get too cocky, Zack," Angeal warned the SOLDIER teen in a firm voice. "This is anything but over. We still need to stop them from letting their plans go into effect. We need to protect the citizens of this city."

"Th-that's right!" Cloud exclaimed as his eyes widened a bit. "We still need to take care of the self-destruct system before they get to it! We can't let them destroy not only all of Midgar, but the entire planet, as well!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Tseng assured them. "I already took care of it. That was another reason why it took me a while to get up here. I was busy disarming the self-destruct so it couldn't be activated. Your plans have now been put to a stop."

"Ohh, are you sure about that?" Sephiroth asked with a hint of a tease in his tone. "I would not want to start getting too full of myself if I were you. Then again, that was something that you always managed to avoid doing, so I have no worries in you having your ego become blown up."

"And what are you insinuating at here, General?" the suited man asked as he raised a questioning eyebrow at the silver haired man. "You speak as if you had a hidden ace up your sleeve. Do you know of something rather important that I have yet to figure out as of yet?"

"Well, I dare say I do, Tseng," the silver haired man replied as the corners of his mouth curved up slightly into a small smile. "While it may be true that you managed to disarm the device that would cause this place to blow up, do you forget who it was that made the system in the first place? It was the good professor here who created the device. I could just ask him of an alternative way to activate the system. What you have done was nothing more than to delay the inevitable."

"Yes, I have created a way to allow the system to go off even if someone managed to hack into it and disable it," Hojo agreed with the General's statement as a slight curl of his lips indicated one of his twisted smiles. "All one needs in order to activate the self-destruct is the detonator I had created. It'll work even if the main activator has been deactivated, as you have so done earlier."

"So you're saying that there _is_ another way to activate it?" Tseng asked with a lack of surprise at the new revelation. "I suppose I should have figured that that would've been the case here. You always were a man who loved to think ahead and find solutions for occasions that just might not play to your liking."

"Unfortunately, using the detonator isn't as definitive as just activating it right here in the president's desk," the professor continued on as he ignored the man. "It can be overridden when activated in such a simple fashion. Oh well, it isn't as though any of you would be able to figure it out anytime soon."

"You really are intent on trying to destroy this city, all for the sake of having the Lifestream appear here and become immensely concentrated, are you?" Zack asked in disbelief as his shook his head at the man. "You really like to make stopping you from achieving your plans as hard as you can make it, huh?"

"Either that or you're just being too careful and made sure to seal up every hole in all of your plans," Cloud added with a sigh as he allowed his body to relax for the first time since coming up to this floor and figuring all this stuff out. "This is definitely not going to be working out for us."

"Then we'll just have to find a way around his carefully built wall of logic," Angeal stated as he scratched the end of his nose. "If we have to, we'll chip away at it piece by piece. That will be the only way we can get him to tell us where he has hidden the detonator."

"Ha, as if you'd be able to pull that little detail out of my mouth. Only the General here knows of the location, for I told him of it only yesterday."

"Did you really, professor?" Tseng asked with intrigue making itself known in his voice. "If that's so, then how come I didn't hear a single word about it when I was tapping your conversation? If you were talking about it, then I would have heard some mention on it."

"Who said anything about _saying_ where the detonator was located?" Hojo asked with added emphasis on the word. "Yes, it's true that I _told_ him of the location, but there's more than one way to relay to someone sensitive information without having to say a single word to them."

"So you're saying that you _showed _him where the device was?" he asked with a small, barely noticeable hitch in his breath.

"Well, I certainly didn't draw a picture showing where it was at. I merely put down written directions as to where it is. Do you think that I am that stupid to speak of something of great importance such as that in a place where someone is liable to overhear the conversation?"

"You obviously didn't think about that when you were listening to Sephiroth talk about his plans," Zack replied with a roll of his eyes at the professor's arrogant attitude. "It's amazing that you managed to remember to be careful about talking about the detonator out loud like that."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my intelligence. My mind holds more power than that of your arms swinging around that sword of yours as if it were a caveman's club. You know that I could easily create something that could squish the life out of you like the pesky little rodent you are."

"Yet you haven't managed to make something like that yet," the young SOLDIER bit back as he childishly stuck his tongue out at the man. "All you managed to make were stupid creatures that can only kill their targets when they sneak up and take them by surprise. Me, Cloud, Adeus, and Angeal have managed to take down every single one that dared to try and kill us

"Why, you immature little boy! You best make sure to be careful at where you stick your tongue out at. It would be a shame to have it chopped out of that arrogant mouth of yours."

"That's enough, you two," Angeal butted in sternly before things got even more heated than they already were. "We don't have time here to be bickering with each other over this mindless nonsense. We have more important matters that need to be taken care of right now."

"Yes, you're quite right, my good man," Hojo agreed with the older SOLDIER as he clapped his hands together and quickly dismissed the past event. "The General and I have a plan that needs to be put into action before things in here become even more out of hand. Now, if you four will excuse me, I'll…"

Just as he was about to walk towards the General's position, Angeal roughly grabbed a hold of the scientist's right arm. The man let out a squeak of surprise as the SOLDIER forcibly tugged him away from his intended destination and threw him towards Tseng, who quickly grabbed a hold of the man before he fell and held a firm grip on him so as to not let him run off. The scientist tried to squirm his way out of the Turk's arms, but his grip was too strong and he was now stuck.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!" Hojo demanded angrily as he continued to violently squirm around in a vain effort to get away. "Let me go, you brainless brute! You have no right to be treating me this roughly."

"Quite the contrary, Professor Hojo," Tseng simply replied as his iron grip on the man simply tightened as the squirming continued. "I have every right to be acting rough with you. From what I have heard through the receiver in combination with what you had just admitted to here in front of me, I can't allow you to roam around free anymore. I may be a Turk who follows the orders of the president without question, but I am not without my own thoughts on certain matters. I still do what I feel is right.

"So, from this point on and until Gaia knows when, you are now under the direct custody of the Turks. You are to first be escorted out of this building to a safer location before you are to be questioned by us. I suggest that you stop trying to break free of my grasp for you will not be able to do so."

"Let the professor go, Tseng," Sephiroth calmly demanded as he brought his stoic gaze to the Turk. "There are things that he needs to do before he has to go along with you to wherever it is that you are planning to take him."

"I'm afraid he can't do that, Sephiroth," Angeal answered as he moved in between the two men. "He needs the professor to tell him in great detail about the creatures roaming around inside this building. He is our only hope in saving this planet from the potential dangers these things pose."

"Oh, come now, my friend," the General said as he gave a small, meaningless smile. "Surely you are not going to try and stand in my way of creating a new society for the planet. You, of all people, should know that I am serious whenever I demand for something to be done or given."

"I know that perfectly well," the older SOLDIER answered as he looked at the silver haired man, yet at the same time he did not look at him. "I know perfectly well how the Sephiroth I have come to know acts. This is not how the strong and honorable man acts. You've changed way too much; I don't even think I recognize you anymore. It pains me to say this to you, but…we are no longer friends from this point on. I can't continue to be friends with a person who has his mind set on changing Gaia for the worse in order to suit his ideals."

"…So, you are abandoning me?" the man asked after a moment's silence filled the room. "You, the man who holds his loyalty to his friends on top of every other important thing in his life, are reconsidering our friendship? Are you sure it is not you who changed for the worse, Angeal?"

Instead of answering, the older SOLDIER simply repositioned his gaze towards Zack and Cloud, who were looking at him with eyes that reflected pity for the situation he was currently in. He caught the looks and silently thanked them for their concern with the slightest of nods of his head.

He then opened his mouth and said, "No, I have changed for the better, even when the cause of the change would probably have done the opposite for me. I have changed for the better, for I now realize that I have been fooled by the façade you have put up the past couple of years. You have changed for the worse right under all of our noses and managed to keep us fooled until this very night. I do not regret taking back the friendship that we had and enjoyed; the only thing I do regret is that I didn't notice your change sooner and tried to stop you from treading down this path. That is my one true regret about our friendship."

"A-Angeal," Zack whispered out sadly as he saw the trouble stirring within his mentor's eyes. He looked on in sadness as he could only imagine the pain the man was in right now as he said those words.

"…So that is how it is going to be from here on out, is it?" Sephiroth asked as he narrowed his eyes at his now ex-friend. "No longer are we going to be friends fighting with each other against a common enemy. We are now true enemies destined to fight each other the next time we meet."

"Well, that's a very poetic way to look at things here," Cloud stated sarcastically as Angeal swallowed his emotions down but still gave out a sad sigh. "In a way, though, I suppose you're right on that. You're no longer the General that we have all come to know you as. You have changed into this person who would take control of the entire planet. You are no longer that man that I have come to respect and admire. No longer are you the man we all remember you as. The next time the four of us meet up like this, we'll most definitely be locked in battle."

"Oh, you are quite right on that, cadet," the General stated as he walked towards the staircases. "You know, if these circumstances were different, I would see you as one of the most advanced cadets I have ever seen here. You truly do have the courage and strength to make it into SOLDIER. You might even be able to make it all the way to 1st Class without any problems should you choose to pursue it.

"However, since we are now enemies, I can only see you as a force to be reckoned with in the near future," the man continued on with a disappointed sigh. "Do you not find it amazing how fate can play out in such unpredictable ways? Anyway, if you will all excuse me; I need to go and find a particular detonator that has been hidden quite well somewhere inside this building."

"I trust you remember me telling you where it was that I hidden it, right?" Hojo, who had since calmed down from his struggling, inquired. "It would not do well for you if you forget about it now."

"Do not worry, Professor Hojo," the silver haired man replied as he walked past the man and Tseng who was still holding onto the man. "I remember quite clearly where you said you have hidden the small device. You have hidden it somewhere on the 67th floor, correct?"

"Yes, I did," the professor answered with a slight nod of his head, causing Tseng to tighten his hold on the man. "Make sure you search the area thoroughly and carefully. A device of that size could easily be overlooked by somebody who doesn't know what they're looking for."

"I don't think you're going to be going anywhere, General," Zack stated defiantly as he quickly got into the man's direct line of path and blocked him from advancing any further. "You're not going to go get the detonator and start blowing up this city. We won't let you do it."

"Is that really what you believe you will be able to do?" Sephiroth asked with slight amusement trailing behind his words. "You honestly believe that you will be able to stop me from accomplishing my goals? If that is what you are truly thinking, then I am afraid that you are sorely mistaken, Zackary."

With a quick swing of his arm, the General knocked the young SOLDIER away from his path and sent him flying a couple a feet away. He landed on his back with a loud thud and a grunt of slight pain.

"You, nor anybody else that still reside inside this building, shall not stop me from attaining what I truly desire," he said as he continued on towards the stairs. "I shall have total control over this planet once I have managed to gain control over the Lifestream, the very blood of Gaia herself. The planet shall bow before me as I work my ideals upon her planet and the people who live on it. There is nothing that any of you can do about it to stop me at this point. Now, if you will excuse me?"

And with those last words out of his mouth, the General walked down the left set of stairs to the 69th floor reception area and out of their immediate sight. He had now disappeared and was in search of the one thing that would start a terrible chain of events if it were to be activated.

Upon is exit from the office, everybody that were still inside were left in a state of mixed emotions. All Angeal could do was continue to look at the stairs the General left through with a hint of sadness reflecting in his eyes. Zack was busy trying to get up off the floor from when the man had pushed him; Cloud was at his side trying to help him up while contemplating in his mind the things that were exchanged between them and the silver haired man. Tseng merely stared at the trio while still holding onto Professor Hojo, who had resumed squirming a few seconds ago.

All of them, except for the professor and the Turk, were at a loss at what they were to do next. The conversation between them and the General had ended in quite an abrupt fashion; they had yet to ;et it register into their minds. The only thing that did cross the trio's minds, though, was that they were now in more trouble than they could have thought possible. They were now forced to go face-to-face against a person whose mind was bent on destroying an entire city all for the sake of having a chance to rule the entire planet. If that was not the worst trouble that they had faced all noght, then they did not know what was.

Well, if they just looked at the bright side of things, they did manage to complete their mission and "protect" Professor Hojo after a spending an entire treacherous night searching for him. If they could do that while fending for themselves against some of the man's crazy creatures and experiments, then trying to stop Sephiroth from completing his plans should not be as hard to do.

Then again, they could be wrong on that. The General was the strongest person that they knew of on the entire planet. The only man alive who could possibly stand a very good chance of surviving in a fight with him would have been Angeal himself. If the man was the strongest person ever to grace the planet and he was the one they were going against at some point in the night, then what were the chances of any of them surviving against the inevitable crossing of blades? Only time would be able to tell if they succeed in the battle. And who knows? The three of them just might be so lucky that they would be the ones to emerge victorious.

"Ha, fat chance at that happening," Zack scoffed out loud as that very thought came flying by through his head. "There's no way we can be that lucky. It'll take a bloody miracle for us to even survive against the General's wrath."

"That may be true, Zack," Tseng replied as he loosened his grip on Professor Hojo, yet still kept it relatively firm. "However, if I had thought that you were not up to par with Sephiroth, I wouldn't have asked you to take on this mission after you had described it to me. I had already knew he, along with the professor here, was behind the attack when you told me of the monsters in here. I felt that only the General could handle the situation, but I knew that your skills were gradually rising up to his level. It appears that you have proven me right on that, for you probably wouldn't be up here if that were not the case. That and you mentioned something about having fought the man himself in a little five minute duel of sorts. If you could survive his onslaught for five minutes, then you do have what it takes to be as close as you can be to his level of skill."

"Hey, don't forget that we've survived lots of other crazy things in here tonight," Cloud reminded the young SOLDIER as he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Sure, none of them were not as hard as when we fought against the General, but they were good practice for when we had to fight against him. If we worked just a little bit harder on our skills and fixed all of our mistakes, I'm sure that we'll have an easier time taking care of him."

"I think that would be a very hard thing for us to do, Cloud," Angeal stated with a small sigh. It seemed as though he had been sighing quite a lot tonight. "Even if we managed to clear up all of our mistakes in our fighting, this is the General we're talking about here. It doesn't matter if you are a perfectionist in sword fighting; the fact of the matter is that he's a man who can always find a way to make you make a mistake while fighting you at the same time. He is truly a skilled swordsman with probably nobody to call his equal on this planet."

"Which is why I said that it'll take a damn miracle in order for us to beat him," the raven haired teen restated his last sentence with a small groan. "Oh, Gaia help us when the time comes that we have to face off against the General again. We're definitely going to need all the luck and help that we can get here."

* * *

Hello, everybody! I hope that you have all liked my past couple of chapters. I especially hope that you like the fact that I had you all in a somewhat misleading, yet not totally off-course, plot the entire time. The true plot of the story is now taking place. Please leave a review once you are done reading. I would like to see if you all like the way I am presenting this suspense story. I have never written a story with a plot like this before, and I want some feedback from my fellow readers. Thanks again for reading. Until the next update!


	27. The Beginning of the Real War

**Chapter 26: The Beginning of the Real War  
**

"Ha, it seems as though Sephiroth's plans are starting to take shape!" Professor Hojo said as he followed up with an evil chuckle. "With the General being the one to retrieve the detonator, there's nothing that any of you can do to stop his plans from taking root now. His swordsmanship skills are unsurpassed and none of you can even hope to survive in battle against him. This idea of his will surely be the one to change this entire planet and how it's run."

"Isn't that a bit ironic, though?" Tseng asked as he tightened his hold on the laughing man. "You, Professor Hojo, were at first quite skeptical, if not opposed, to the General's plans when he brought it to your attention. That was how you positioned yourself on the subject when I overheard your conversation with the General last night. It's amazing how you were able to have such a quick change in mind in such a short amount of time."

"Well, that quick change of my mind occurred because he has now chosen to indulge to me all of the facts that were surrounding his intriguing ideas," the professor explained rather plainly. "Remember that he had not done so at first and was trying his best to avoid explaining that part altogether; so naturally, I was very hesitant to even consider trying out his idea. But of course, you already knew that, Tseng. After all, you had already admitted to having bugged my office and listening in onto our conversation last night."

"Look, I don't care about any of what he thought then and how he changed his mid on it," Zack said with a slight growl in the back of his throat laced together with his words. "I don't even care about the details on the General's insane plans. All I know is that the he has gone completely insane and is going to destroy the city in an attempt to take over the entire planet. If we don't go and stop him now, then we're all as good as dead now!"

"That reminds me of something," the Turk said as he suddenly handed off Hojo to Angeal, who placed his firm grip on the man's wrists before he even had a chance to move on his own during that brief moment of freedom. "I need to hurry and contact Reno and Rude and fill them in on the situation. Unless I'm forgetting something here, they're right now situated on the 67th floor and taking care of a sick cadet. If they stay there any longer, I fear for what might happen to them should the General end up crossing paths with the three of them."

"Oh no; I completely forgot all about them!" the young SOLDIER exclaimed as he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. "All of them have been taking care of things down there the whole time we've been up here! They don't know what was going on up here! I got to hurry and beat Sephiroth to the 67th floor and warn them before it's too late!"

"Calm down, pup," Angeal replied calmly as he saw the Turk pull out a cell phone from his suit pocket and started to dial a number. "Tseng is going to call and give them a warning right now. Besides, the General's only been gone for no more than a couple of minutes. He's probably just arrived on the 68th floor. There's still time for him to warn the three of them. With that said, there's no possible way that you'd be able to outrun the man at this point. Even if you managed to catch up to him, he would try to stop you before you would even have a chance to run past him. The quickest way to warn them now is to call them, which is what Tseng is doing right now."

"But what if there is no time to warn them?" the raven haired teen asked as panic was evident in his voice. "With Adeus probably still in the phase of transforming into a zombie, thanks to some crazy scientist up here that we know," he added with a venomous bite, "he can't even hope to fend for himself against Sephiroth. I don't even think Reno and Rude can handle him together!"

"Oh, just shut up Zack!" Cloud abruptly cut in to prevent his best friend from making anymore pessimistic thoughts. "You're not helping here. Just take some time to calm down so you can stop panicking. The three of them are going to be fine once Tseng gives them a quick warning. I'm sure the General is nowhere near them yet. Don't forget that he has to take the long way down since the elevators are destroyed. There's no need for you to be worrying so much about them.

"Besides," the cadet continued on while the Turk had his ear pressed against his cell, waiting for someone on the other end to pick up, "don't you remember what he said earlier when he first came up here? He said he passed by the three of them while one of the Turks were administering the antidote into Adeus's body. I'm sure he's starting to get better, even as we speak."

"Oh, I really hope you're right there, Spiky," the young SOLDIER replied with a small and slow sigh. "The last thing we need here right now is another person to go and die on us because of _someone's_ crazy idea for an experiment running loose in here," he added acidly as he shot an angry glare that could probably sear a hole right through Professor Hojo.

"My ideas are not crazy," the professor retorted as he squirmed around a bit in Angeal's grasps. "They are simply revolutionary in how it can help the people of this planet better hone their survival skills. Without them, people might become too secure about their safety in the near future that they just might forget to remember the dangers that lurk out there in the wild."

"This is hardly a great way for one to go around and promote survival, professor," Angeal said as he intentionally tightened his grip on the man's wrist in anger, causing him to squirm more. "I also highly doubt that that was your original intention when you first decided to unleash your killer creatures inside this place. You don't go around promoting survival skills by letting those huge killer monsters of yours roam around free inside the Shinra Building."

"Only someone who's like the professor here would even think about disagreeing with you here, Angeal," Zack said as he began to calm down a bit. "Thank Gaia there aren't that many people like that in here. Let's just hope that we can fix this problem this guy created here."

"What took you so long to answer, Reno?" Tseng asked suddenly, indicating that he had finally made contact with the Turks two floors down. "Your phone's been ringing for the past thirty seconds. I thought I told you that you should answer it no later than after five seconds."

For a few seconds, the entire room was quiet. Everybody, except for the professor, listened intently to the conversation that was starting between the two Turks over the phone. Even though they could not hear the words coming from the other end, they felt that they could get the gist of it if they paid attention to the conversation on their side of things.

"The monsters have appeared on your floor?" Tseng repeated what he heard, earning him a look of shock from the trio's faces. "I suppose that's ample reason as to why you didn't pick up your phone immediately after I called. However, those monsters that you're taking care of right now should be put to the back of your minds. There's something even more pressing that you have to do. I want you and Rude to take the cadet with you down to the next floor down and wait for us there. General Sephiroth is quickly closing in on your position right now, and I don't want you three to get caught up in what he has planned in his head. Now hurry up and get yourselves out of there; you don't have much time."

Just as the Head Turk pulled the phone away from his ear, a loud noise was heard coming from the other end. It was so loud; everybody could hear it coming from the device. With a look of great concern donning his face, the man quickly placed the phone back onto his ear.

"What happened, Reno?!" he asked in a rush that his words almost sounded slurred together. "What's going on over there?"

"The General!" they heard the red haired Turk exclaimed as a great noise came right after that. "The General just got here! He's making things crazy in here and is trying to take us down here! I don't think he liked it when he figured out that we were down here!"

"Sephiroth's there already?!" Tseng exclaimed, earning shocked looks from the trio, before quickly changing his tone in an ordering fashion. "Don't fight him; just take the cadet with you and get out of there now!"

"Rude, we're falling back!" Reno was heard saying to the other Turk on his end of things without hesitation or questioning the orders that were given to him. "You go and take the kid with you! Make sure you don't get yourself hit by the General! You know just how good he is with that thing!"

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound was heard on the other end of the line. Along with the crash was a grunting sound that emanated from the Turk on the phone. Apparently, something happened so quickly that it had caused him to grunt in surprise, or that was what Tseng thought as he heard more crashing noise in the background.

"Oh, damn it; he managed to block the only door that leads out of this stupid lab! There's no way out of here now except for the stupid elevator that he came from, but he's practically blocking our way there! Oh, this is the worst way to become completely screwed here! Whoa!

"Uh, if you don't mind Tseng, can you please bring the SOLDIER guys up there with you down here?" he requested rather hastily just as a whooshing sound was heard coming from the phone. "I think that we're going to need a lot of help here against this crazy man. It'll make getting out of here so much easier if they can get down here quickly and help us take care of him. Whoa! Especially since he's trying to kill us by swinging his killer sword at us and forcing things to go flying at us with it! God, I don't understand how he's able to do that!"

"There's no need for me to go and do that, Reno," Tseng replied as calmly as he could as he saw Zack running towards the stairs with Cloud and Angeal following closely behind him. "The three of them are already on their way down. Just don't let yourselves be killed before they get there."

"That's really easier said than done, sir!" the red head exclaimed as he took a sharp breath. "This guy's practically swinging his sword around as if he was a madman holding onto a huge club. He doesn't care what he hits; as long as whatever he hits ends up flying at us, he just doesn't care! Well, at least he's able to help us kill the monsters up here with his crazy sword-swinging moves. I don't know if he's doing it purposely or not; it's at least helping us take down the monster problem and allowing us to concentrate on surviving here.

"He seems to be cautious as to where he's aiming his strikes, though," the man continued on after another loud noise sounded in the background. "He's also taking a couple of seconds to examine some of the stuff he's already somewhat destroyed. It's almost as if he's trying to search for something down here while trying to kill us at the same time."

"I'm not completely sure about the 'killing you' part, but the General is trying to look for something in there," the Head Turk answered in a rushed tone. "I'll explain to you everything that has happened up here later. Right now, just make sure both you and Rude stay alive while protecting Adeus from the man until Angeal, Zack, and Cloud arrive at your position."

"Whoa! Uh, easier said than done, Tseng. Sephiroth's an insanely strong person, in case you haven't noticed yet; and he's kind of tearing the place down and running on berserk mode right now."

"That's pretty close to what you've already reported to me a few minutes ago Reno. Just make sure you and Rude do your best to protect the cadet and not get killed by the General and everything will be fine."

Without waiting for a reply from the other end, the Head Turk hung up his cell phone and quickly placed it into his pants pocket. He then gave out a great sigh and noticed that sometime during the phone call; he managed to take control over Professor Hojo again without really knowing it. He must have subconsciously did so when the trio made a mad dash down the stairs a few moments ago.

"Oh, Gaia help them all stand up against the General here," the man prayed as he gave out another heavy sigh. "And may Gaia be merciful on you once she figures out that you were the originator of this convoluted plan, professor."

Instead of making some kind of sarcastic comeback as the Turk had expected, the professor simply opted to laugh, which caused him to mentally raise an eyebrow at the behavior. He continued to laugh in his own sick, insane way as he was escorted to a door that was located along the left side of the office. He did not even notice a whirring sound of spinning blades as Tseng opened the door and a strong blast of air began to flow in through the opening.

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Hello, Everybody! Sorry for the somewhat long update. I am right now getting myself prepared for my high school graduation! Yay, this dragon is moving on into the real world now! Whoo!!!

...Anyway, another reason why it took a while to post a new chapter is because...this was originally meant to be a part of my next chapter, which is still under construction. It took me a while before I figured out that this could be a separate chapter all on its own. The next chapter should be up by the end of this week, and I am sure that it will be worth the wait for you all. Do not forget to leave a review! Thank you!


	28. Battle Against Hell's Greatest Warrior

Here is the new chapter at the end of this week, just like I promised. I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is not only the longest chapter I have written for this story; it is also the most action-packed as of now. Please leave a review once you are done reading it so I can see how well I have written it out. Thank you for being patient with me and I hope this chapter was well worth the wait for all of you.

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Chapter 27: Battle Against Hell's Greatest Warrior**

"Do you guys think that we'll be able to get to them in time?" Zack asked in a rush as his feet made contact with the 69th floor and he continued to run. "I mean, it'll probably take about a couple of minutes to get to them from here. That's a pretty long time when you consider how good Sephiroth is in battle. With him, anything can happen in just two minutes."

"Just shut up and keep running, Zack!" Cloud exclaimed as he concentrated on keeping his pace up with the other two SOLDIERs in front of him. "Thinking is only going to end up slowing us down. That and we don't need to be hearing any more of your pessimistic thoughts right now. Unless it's sound advice you have to give me, I don't want to hear it."

"How about the both of you just be quiet and keep running?" Angeal asked as they went through the door that separated the stairs to the office floor from the reception area. "All this excessive talking is not helping our situation. You need to keep your breathing controlled so you can run faster. Just concentrate on getting back to the lab as quickly as we can."

For the rest of the time they spent running back to where they left Adeus and the two Turks, the trio stayed totally silent and simply concentrated on getting back to the 67th floor lab as quickly as they possibly could. The only sounds that were emitted from them were the heavy footsteps as they pounded on the metal floor and the heavy breaths as they ran.

Once they had reached the stairs that would lead them to the 68th floor lab, they flew right down them and continued to run through the room without taking a single break. They even ignored a couple of zombies that have appeared sometime during their absence from the area and continued straight to the service elevator that connected the 68th and 67th floor lab.

Fortunately, they did not have to wait long for the elevator to come back up from the lab downstairs. It only took a couple of seconds before they heard the contraption come up to their floor and stopped. Once the grated doors opened up, the three of them quickly filed into the small area and waited impatiently as the contraption started to take them to their destination.

Just as the elevator was coming to a stop a few seconds later, all of them heard a tremendous sound coming from just beyond the elevator doors. Instinctively, they readied their weapons by placing their hands on the hilts of their swords; the room was too small and cramped for them to do anything more than that. Once they opened, they all rushed out and officially drew their respective swords out, ready for whatever it was that might upon their entrance to the 67th floor lab.

"Alright, Sephiroth!" Zack practically shouted over the banging noise in order to gain said man's attention, whom he could not see right now. "We know that you're somewhere in here! Why don't you go and fight us rather than picking on those weaker than you?"

"Hey, we Turks are not _weak_, SOLDIER boy!" Reno's voice replied angrily from behind a pile of debris that seemed to serve as a barricade of sorts. "We're pretty strong ourselves and can probably take you down any time and day. The damn General just caught us by surprise this time around and we couldn't do anything except to go on the defensive!"

"I see that you have all arrived," Sephiroth's stoic voice calmly said as he appeared from behind the now ruined chamber the experimental monster was held in earlier with a Demon Scythe monster lying sprawled out on top of the wreckage. He then walked over a couple of completely dead zombies and stopped a few paces past them before he said, "I assumed that you all would have been on your way down here once I saw that flaming haired Turk talking on his cell. Oh well, it is not as though it matters too much to me. More people here just prove to serve as a source of unnecessary distraction for me at this point. All I came here for is the detonator the professor hid so well on this floor. Should any of you decide to try and stop me, I will cut you down right where you stand."

"…How ironic of you to say that you would cut them down if the tried to stop you, General Sephiroth," Rude's stoic tone, which held a bit more feeling to it than the General's did when compared, spoke up as he calmly walked out from behind the rudimentary barricade that was either created or formed during the earlier chaos. He readjusted the sunglasses a bit as he said, "That didn't seem to be your line of reasoning when you decided to attack us without warning a few minutes ago. If I remember correctly, both me and Reno weren't even trying to impede you from your intended objective, yet you still saw fit to pin us down as your targets. You pretty much said one thing and did another."

"You were all not intentionally in my way; I will admit that," the silver haired man admitted as he brought a stray hair away from his eyes. "However, that does not mean that you were not doing so unintentionally. I am sure that you know by now that I am searching for something within this lab."

"Oh, is that right, General?" Reno asked as he all but hopped out from behind where he was hiding and looked around the room with sarcastic confusion written all over his face. "Is that what you were trying to do here a couple of minutes ago? I wouldn't have guessed that you were looking for something by the way that you practically trashed everything around here. Now you're really going to have an easy time trying to find what you're looking for in this big humongous mess you made. I sure as Hell know that I'd have a hard time searching."

"There is no need for sarcastic remarks here, Reno. I am only stating my intentions here. The fact that this room is in such disarray is because the two of you refuse to either move out of my way or just simply die. I would if I could say three instead of two, but the cadet you were ferrying around the room did not look like he was in any shape to do anything."

"What did you do with Adeus?!" Zack demanded as he scanned the room and failed to notice the sick cadet anywhere inside the room. "If you did anything to him, you're going to regret it!"

"I, personally, have not done anything to inflict harm upon the poor boy, Zackary," Sephiroth said in a somewhat defensive tone as he shook his head slightly at the accusation. "From what I was able to see while I was busy 'tearing down this room,' or so the rambunctious red haired Turk over there so nicely phrased it, he was simply suffering from the effects of being wounded by one of the good professor's experiments. It was hard to see since they were moving him around a lot, but he seemed to look a bit pale in the face."

"Don't worry, Zack; Adeus is doing fine," Reno said as he saw the look of total concern cross onto the young SOLDIER's face right after he shot a dirty look at the General in response to the comment directed at him. "We already made the injection that's supposed to help negate the transformation and gave it to him twenty minutes ago. He was already kind of pale at the time we gave it to him; he still kind of looks that way right now. All we can really do now is wait and see if things will start to get better for him from here."

"So there is a theoretical serum that can negate the transformation," the General said thoughtfully as the corners of his lips twitched upward into a small smile of amusement. "The professor really did think of everything when he decided to make his creatures and unleashed them upon the people here. He even went so far as to create a serum to protect himself from transformation if he were to be attacked by his creatures and survived. I am impressed.

"Anyway, that is enough of this idle talking," he continued on with a slight twitch of his neck. "I do not have time to waste by casually talking with you all. I came here to get something and I intend to find it, regardless whether or not any of you decide to try and stop me."

"Then I guess it's time for us to make it harder for you to find that stupid detonator," Cloud said as he got himself ready in a battle stance. "That's the last thing we want you to get your murderous hands on right now. And who knows, maybe we'll be the ones to find it in this mess before you do."

"Don't even think about wasting your time to go looking for it, Cloud," Angeal warned the blond cadet sternly. "Just keep your mind focused on the upcoming battle. When fighting against the General, there will be no time to do anything except to concentrate on the battle itself."

"That is some good sound advice to be giving him, Angeal," the General stated as he shifted his feet ever so slightly. "However, I doubt that it would be of much help to the cadet right now. After all, he may have a lot of talent with a sword when in battle, but his skills are still unrefined, and that makes him a liability here. Your advice to him does nothing to obscure his inexperience."

"...I'm sure that the combined battle experience from the four of us in here more than compensates for the cadet's inexperience," Rude stated coolly as he tugged at the ends of the black leather battle gloves on his hands. "After all, you're not only going to be in battle with them, but also with us Turks as well. It wouldn't be right nor smart of you if you just simply pretended that we weren't even here and kept your attention only on them the whole time."

"That's right; don't you even dare think about forgetting about the two of us here, General!" Reno added cockily as he slung his EMR over his shoulder and gave a smug smile. "The Turks aren't planning on leaving this building anytime soon now that we're back here. We have to clear up the mess here before we can go, thanks to you. Besides, I'm up for some revenge from when you decided to go nuts on us in here a couple of minutes ago."

"Humph, it seems as though I am making a lot of enemies in here tonight. This is all starting to become tiresome. I warn you all right now; do not get involved in matters that do not concern you."

"...I'm afraid that we're already involved with this, whether you like it or not," the bald man said as he adjusted his sunglass. "Did you really think that our boss, Tseng, wouldn't impart to us what he already knew about you? After all, we were ordered back here from our intended destination to help out with the situation in here. He warned us about you when he issued the command, for he thought that there was a high possibility that you would be in here."

"Trust me; we wouldn't even have come here if it weren't for the SOLDIER boy receiving a call from our boss earlier this evening," the red head added as he shot a quick smile at Zack. "We would have still been on our way to Junon on some cock and bull mission that the president sent me and Rude on and not know what was going on here if he hadn't heard what was going on from him; and Tseng would've been halfway across the planet by now to Wutai had he not called Zack earlier and figured out what was going on here from him."

"Ah, now I see why you Turks came back here so quickly," Sephiroth said as he nodded his head I understanding. "I have been wondering this whole time as to why it was that you all decided to come back much earlier than it was expected of you. I was sure that I had the president order each of you to some faraway country where there would be no hope of any of you coming back until morning tomorrow or later. I suppose I should have asked for your departure time to have been earlier in the afternoon today instead of early evening."

"So you were also the one who decided to send all Turk members out on some mission at the same time," Cloud said in realization as the cogs inside his brain began to piece together some of the various loose ends that became apparent due to the night's many hectic events and revelations. "I've been wondering this whole time how weird it was that every Turk was out doing some kind of mission on the same night all Hell broke loose in here. I had a feeling that something strange was going on. It was almost as if they were all chased out of here before the attack happened. I should have known that you would have something to do with that once we figured out that you were in league with President Shinra."

"Lucky for us then that I was still alive and happened to have direct contact with Tseng," Zack said with a cocky half-smile as he raised his free arm up above him in a childish triumphant gesture. "If it weren't for that, then they wouldn't be here right now lending us their help inside this hellhole. Thank Gaia that those creatures didn't manage to get to me."

"It is fortunate for you that I had overlooked that fact," the General said as he tightened the grip on his sword. "However, that is something that I can easily remedy right here and now. All I have to do is kill you all and I will have no resistance in pushing my plans forward."

Without any warning whatsoever, the man dashed towards Zack, who was still in conversation mode and failed to bring his sword up from his side to even deflect the blow. All he could do was move back a couple of steps in shock at the sudden black blur that was now dashing towards him. Thankfully, Angeal was more than ready for what was to come and managed to jump in between the two and deflect the blow with his own sword, thus stopping the General's Masamune and saving the young SOLDIER from being cleaved into two.

"I thought I told you to never let your guard down, pup?" he reprimanded the young raven haired SOLDIER as he kept his gaze on the General in front of him. "How many times do I have to remind you about that before it stays in that puppy head of yours? Honestly, you are a 1st Class SOLDIER meant to set a good example for Cloud here. I'm not always going to be around to help you stay alive through every slip-up you make, you know?"

"Uh, I guess I still have a couple of things to learn here," the young SOLDIER replied shyly as he scratched the back of his head gave a sheepish smile at his mentor. "Sorry about that, Angeal."

"Oh, and I thought that I would be able to make this all as quick and easy as possible," Sephiroth replied with a disappointed sigh as he retracted his long sword and stepped back a couple of paces. "I would have liked to have this over and done with as quickly as possible. I do need to get back on track with all my plans while I am still alive to do it after all."

"Sephiroth," the older SOLDIER said in a soft yet demanding voice as he kept himself poised for another sudden attack by the man, "please think about what you're trying to do here just one more time. I know that I've already asked you to do so back in the president's office, but please reconsider your plans. You don't have any idea just how bad your ideas could easily get out of your control. Things could easily look good in the initial phase and then suddenly take a turn for the worse in a heartbeat. You could end up killing the thousands of people who live in this city, including yourself, and it could all be for nothing.

"Even if you do end up getting the results you seek when you bomb this entire city, there's no way of knowing if everything that you've thought of after that might actually play out in the exact way that you planned it," he continued on as he stressed each word he was saying in an attempt to get through to his once good friend one last time. "You can't just go gambling the lives of the innocent away like this. Don't you remember what you told me when we first met and trained together? You said that you wanted to protect those who couldn't do so themselves and make the planet a more peaceful place. What happened to that person that I came to befriend all those years ago? This isn't who you are and you know that."

"Oh, do not say another word about that, Angeal," the General interrupted the older SOLDIER abruptly as he raised his free hand in front of him in a stopping gesture. "I do not want to hear any reminiscent words befitting of an elderly senile man coming from you, nor do I want you to use my own words against me in a vain attempt to sway my thoughts. Nothing that you say here is going to change my mind on this. I already have it set on trying to take control of this planet in my own way. Save your breath for the battle that is to take place between us here and now. I would rather that you waste it then rather than using it to try and sway my mind on something that I have already decided on."

"…I see that I'm just wasting my words on you at this point," Angeal said with a dejected sigh as he reluctantly readied his sword. "I had hoped that I would've been able to sway your mind on this and bring you back from this insanity. I see now that that is nothing but a distant hope at this point. Very well; if I have to kill you so this planet can be saved, then so be it."

"I would not have it any other way, my friend," he replied with a small smile as he stood in a casual stance with his blade loosely held in his left hand, almost as if he were not ready to or not intending to fight. "In fact, I find that this kind of battle to the death as you so say can really make things even more interesting. Without any further ado then, let the battle begin."

With another quick flash of movement, Sephiroth was out of his casual stance and had dashed in for another swift attack. Just like last time, he moved so fast and suddenly that nobody had much time to react against him. This time though, he had his sights set another target other than one of the SOLDIERs or Cloud; the target he had his sights on now was one of the Turks, Reno, who recoiled a bit in shock.

The Turk, who was caught off-guard at being the General's new human target, quickly recovered from his stumble and brought his EMR above his head as if it were a sword to deflect the blow. He may have not been holding an actual sword, but it was still as strong as one, for the offending blade merely bounced off of the electrically charged rod. He then quickly sidestepped to the right side to avoid another slash and swung his weapon horizontally in an attempt to strike Sephiroth's now exposed ribs as a counter-attack. Unfortunately, this was a futile action, for the General quickly moved back and away from the strike and threw a quick right punch that was aimed right at the Turk's now exposed side.

Before the strike was able to make contact, Rude immediately came to Reno's aid. He jumped right in the path of the punch and caught it with both of his hands, thus stopping it in its tracks. He then attempted to try and snap the man's arm by locking his elbow, but the silver haired man was faster. He brought his blade around and swung it at the bald Turk. Since he was in its direct line and had nowhere to go, he was forced to let go of the arm and duck down away from it.

From there, he opted to try and sweep the man off of his feet by performing a leg sweep. He felt his leg make contact with the edge of the silver haired man's black trench coat, but that was all he felt since he jumped back right at the last second, thus avoiding the sweep altogether. Once he landed on his feet, he quickly leapt forward towards the Turk, who was still in the process of getting up from his sweep, thus leaving him wide open and defenseless.

Just before the sword came down onto Rude's head though, two different blades from opposite sides of each other intercepted the long blade and created a cross, thus acting as a guard from the General's long Masamune. The two swords both belonged to Zack and Angeal, who had quickly ran to the Turk's aid once they saw him go for a sweep and gambled at the thought that he might be a bit slow at coming up; even though he was quite skilled in martial arts, they figured that he was still not as fast as Sephiroth. Thankfully, they were right in their train of thought and practically saved Rude from being slashed to death.

Using this small opening presented to him, Reno went in for another attack with his EMR. He had his arm back and was preparing to stab the electrified end right at the General. However, that idea was quickly short-circuited as the man took notice of it and easily kicked the rod out of the red haired Turk's hands. Startled at the sudden movement and loss of his EMR, he momentarily froze up as he saw his weapon fly away and fall noisily onto the metal floor.

This was all the time Sephiroth needed as he brought his sword out from the pincer that the two SOLDIERs' swords had made and took a swipe at the Turk, who managed to regain his senses at the last second and ducked away from the blade's path. All he thankfully ended up losing in place for his life were a couple strands of his hair. As he was recovering from the swift maneuver he was forced to make, the red strands floated down and landed on the bland silver metal floor where they stood out. Reno barely noticed this though as he scrambled to retrieve his weapon from a pile of wooden debris, where it had stopped rolling a moment ago.

Since he had his guard down again as he went to retrieve his fallen weapon, the Turk failed to notice the General about to take another swing at him with his Masamune. Just as he lifted the blade above his head and brought it down for a downward slash at his back, another blade came from his right side and intercepted his path. When the two blades met, the offending one buckled slightly at the force of the movement, yet it still held its place firmly and refused to move. With a quick glance over in the direction where the blade had come from, he saw a tuft of blond hair, confirming his suspicions on who the owner of the sword was.

"My, what great speed you have here," the General said as his calm green eyes met with nervous blue ones. "You even managed to withstand the force of my strike. You truly harbor many surprises and talents for a young cadet such as you. Tell me; where did you learn to gain such strength and speed?"

"Through constant training and practice!" Cloud growled out as he allowed his blade to slide down to the hilt of Sephiroth's, thus allowing him to penetrate the man's personal space without any fear of being skewered by the blade that still hovered dangerously above him.

"What is this?!" the General breathed out in slight shock and surprise at the sudden movement as he momentarily lost sight of the blond teen.

Even though he was a seasoned warrior, that movement was too sudden and unprecedented for him to have read; especially since it came from a young cadet, someone who he was theoretically supposed to be able to take down without any problems. Because of that, he received a direct punch right in the stomach, he was more surprised by the strength and force behind it than by the act of being punched by a lowly cadet. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for Cloud, he was more than strong enough to absorb most of the attack to the point where he only felt minor discomfort. The only thing he was forced to do was move back a foot or two so he could avoid feeling anything more than that.

"Humph, that was quite unexpected of you," the general admitted as he quickly regained his battle posture. "I never would have expected such strength and sneakiness from someone of your level. Do you really just practice everyday or is there something more that I do not know of?"

"It's just pure and simple practice, General," the blond answered plainly as he brought his sword back into battle position. "That and I learned most of what I know from the best of the best."

"Oh, and who might that be, cadet? Let me know so I can proudly take down that SOLDIER and show you that the strength you have been taught is insufficient to amount to anything."

"And who are you calling insufficient, Sephiroth?" Zack asked with a slight growl as he came to Cloud's side and had his sword slung over his shoulder. "The skills that I've taught Cloud were taught to me by Angeal here. I suggest you watch what you try to say about me and my skills, because if you're going to be calling me insufficient, then you're also calling him the same thing."

"Do you really find Cloud's skill to be lacking?" Angeal asked in an amused tone as he walked casually to the other side of the blond cadet and brought his sword in front of the teen in a protective fashion. "That's funny; I happen to find his skill to be quite well refined and nicely executed. Are you sure that you're still not reeling in shock at how he was able to so easily maneuver past your stopped blade and into your personal battle space?"

"You have quite a mouth on you tonight; do you not, Angeal?" Sephiroth asked as he gave a small snort at his former friend's sudden change in attitude. "You are not usually this outspoken about how you feel on the things I talk about. Even if you do happen to disagree with the things I say, which I do notice to be most of the time lately, you would just stay quiet and show your discomfort through the slight shifts of your eyes. Why the sudden change?"

"I suppose all these crazy happenings tonight have changed me around a little bit," the older SOLDIER stated as he gave off an uncharacteristic cocky smile. "The night has shown me that not everything should be taken as they are seen at first glance. It's because of that I have figured out that you're not the person you have me know you as. It has also taught me to quickly get over the shock of something as revealing as that, for there would've been nothing that I could have possibly done to have prevented someone like you from altering his already warped mind."

"Is that that the truth, my friend?" the General inquired as he did not bother to mask his intrigue and allowed for it to reflect in his voice. "My, those are some really harsh words that you have thrown my way. I suppose now that I should stop calling you my friend from now on, _Angeal_," he added with a slight bite on the man's name, attempting to cause said man to flinch at the venom and failing miserably at it, much to his dismay.

"Anyway, if what you say you have learned tonight is true," he continued on as he dropped his intrigue and brought back his stoic demeanor, "then what is stopping you from saying that Zackary and the cadet are both not who you think they are? Why are you so trusting of them, yet you have lost trust with me? What makes the both of them so different from me that you would trust them without any question about their true thoughts and mindset?"

"I'll tell you what makes the two of them so different from someone like you. Let me go ahead and explain it to you by starting out with Zack here:

"I've spent almost five years keeping this young SOLDIDER under my wing and training and molding him into who his is today. I've been around the pup for so long; I practically know him as if he were my own son. If I don't know what kind of person he is by now, then I would have been a bad mentor and SOLDIER. Besides, if he really were as different as he brings himself on to be, I doubt that his puppy dog demeanor would last quite as long as it has. After all, you know how easy it is to read him once you really get to know the real him."

"You are right on that," Sephiroth admitted as he quickly dodged to the side to avoid a strike from an electrically charged rod that came from behind. Reno was then seen stumbling forward a bit due to his target suddenly not being in front of him. Before he even had a chance to recover from it, he was hit hard in the back by the hilt of the General's sword, thus sending him quickly to the ground where he landed with a loud thud and a big groan of pain.

"But what about the young cadet here?" he simply asked as he began to calmly dodge the fists that were now coming at him from Rude. "You have not yet explained to me what it is about him that makes him so trusting. Do you mind explaining to me why that is so?"

"Gladly, Sephiroth," Angeal replied just as simply as he joined the bald Turk and started to fight the General. With each sentence spoken, he let a swing of his sword accompany at the end of each while being careful to not hit the Turk. "I know that the puppy is a very good judge of character and knows how to easily bring out a person's true side. It's true that he may be a really restless boy and doesn't remember certain things at times. However, he can certainly tell when he has come across somebody who can be a good and trusted friend. Therefore, whoever is a good friend of Zack is also a good friend of mine."

"So that is your basis in knowing whether or not the cadet is really who he says he is?" the silver haired man asked as he dodged a punch that missed his face by less than an inch before delivering a swift elbow in the gut of the owner of the punch. The bald man recoiled back a bit from the strength and suddenness of the counterattack and lost his breath, causing him to momentarily lose his footing and fall to the floor. He then refocused his attention to the SOLDIER and asked, "That is how you are able to know whether or not he is a trustable person and not someone who is just hiding behind a well-crafted guise? That is pretty pathetic, even for you Angeal."

"As I said earlier, tonight's events has changed me around a bit," the older SOLDIER repeated as his and Sephiroth's blades crossed; Angeal leaning inwards to put more strength into his attack while the General simply extended his arm out and stood erect. "I've learned that sometimes, I have to rely on the thoughts of others in order for me to make a correct decision."

"Oh, is that so?" the silver haired man asked sarcastically as he gave a simple push on his blade and caused Angeal to back off a bit. "You have decided to become a man without a mind of his own and rely on the thoughts of another person? That truly is a new low for you."

"Well, he definitely can't get any lower than _you_!" Zack practically grunted out the last word as he ran right at the General and swung his sword down with all the strength that he had behind it. "You've basically went as low as anybody can possibly go!" He swung his sword with such great strength behind it; he managed to make the silver haired man buckle his sword arm a bit under the created resistance, which was a shock for the seasoned warrior.

"Such strength…!" he gasped as he was forced to stop absorbing the strike and back off a bit lest he set himself up for a close-range attack to the gut. "I have never seen you give off that much power before! Not once have you ever displayed that to me. Tell me, where did you find this new source of energy, Zackary?"

"Do you honestly think that I'll tell you something like that?" the young SOLDIER stated defiantly as he retracted his sword and went in for another attack. "As if you even deserve to know something like that. That's going to be a secret that only Cloud, Angeal, and I can know!"

All Sephiroth could emit as an answer was a grunt as he felt his arm quiver yet again under Zack's sudden burst of energy. It was with this one moment of distraction that he had failed to notice a certain bald Turk sneaking up on him until it was too late. He grunted in surprise as he felt his legs being swept away from the floor and felt himself falling backwards onto the cold metal floor. It was all he could do to keep his sword in front of him in order to not be sliced by the young SOLDIER's sword that he could do nothing to really break his fall.

"…I thought you said that you always kept careful watch of your surroundings, General," Rude said with a hint of cockiness behind his words as he got up from the floor just as a loud thud of back hitting metal was heard. "You didn't seem to even hear me coming. Starting to lose your touch there, aren't we?"

"You…!" the silver haired man exclaimed as he pushed the offending sword out of his way and quickly rolled onto his front so he could get back onto his feet. As soon as he did so, though, he was met with Cloud's sword in his face, which he quickly attempted to swat away. The blade stood still, much to the man's surprise, no longer buckling under the sheer strength of such a movement.

"Grr, even you seem to be getting stronger!" he growled as he began to lose that stoic edge in his voice and started to sound irritated. "You no longer quiver when met head-on with my strength."

"Of course I don't," Cloud said rather calmly as he pushed against the floor with his back foot, giving him slightly more power behind his sword. "I'm only going to be getting better from here."

The blond cadet then suddenly pulled himself away from the blade-lock he was in, causing the General to be slightly confused by this gesture. Not even a second later, he got his answer as to why he did so.

Without any warning, he felt a great surge of electricity course throughout his body. It was not so much that he would have dropped his sword and lose his concentration on his surroundings, but it was enough to give him quite a shock, both literally and physically. He soon fell to his knees just as the surge ended, his left hand still gripping his Masamune tightly as if it were his lifeline.

"That's…for hitting me in the back earlier," Reno's voice announced as his body appeared from behind the General's previously erect position. "Hope you liked the jolt I gave you."

"Wh-what is going on here?!" Sephiroth demanded angrily as he was trying to get over the residual twitches that came as aftershocks of the jolt. "Why am I being injured by all of you when I am not supposed to? Why is it that you are all seemingly gaining more strength here?"

"That's because we're all fighting for something that we want to protect," Angeal stated simply as he positioned the sharp end of his blade just above the silver haired man's head. "Namely, we all want to protect this planet from your destructive plans on world domination."

"We all draw strength from the desire to protect this land," Zack added as he added his blade next to his mentor's. "We also use everything we know against you and keep our focus on the battle only. Does that explain to you why we are seemingly becoming stronger against you?"

"That and you could be losing your edge here," Cloud said with a smile as he placed his blade right next to Zack's. "I've noticed that you've been starting to be more visibly shocked at the things that you think we can't do. Every time you physically show your amazement at what we do, you seem to have a slight loss in concentration, which, in turn, gives all of us a slight edge against you."

"…Fortunately for you, your occasional lack in concentration does not contribute to you losing your expert sword play," Rude stated as he tugged at his gloves. "You're able to protect yourself against a blade, but your loss in concentration makes you somewhat vulnerable against close-range melee attacks. Therefore, that is what we used against you in your temporary mind lapse."

"…My, did all of you really notice that much about me?" Sephiroth asked as he gave a small bitter smile and completely ignored the Turks, diverting all of his attention at the trio, much to Reno's facial and vocal irritation that also went ignored; he kept more of his attention at Zack and Cloud rather than Angeal. "That is very good of all of you to have found out so much from that small moment of time in battle. So you all did get better. Heh, do you honestly think that I did not know why you were able to now hurt me when you theoretically should not be able to?"

"Are you saying you knew the entire time?" Reno asked as he gave an even more audible sound of irritation and gripped his EMR tightly. "What was the point in us telling you about it then? Did you just want to make us look stupid by letting us get so full of ourselves here?"

"That is hardly the case here," the General said as he suddenly brought his sword upward in a horizontal fashion and moved the three blades that were against him away. He then quickly got up onto his feet and parried another electric jolt before moving away to relative safety. "I just wanted to see if you all knew where you were drawing your strength from. Think of it as a test. It was my way of seeing if you all really are to be a force reckoned with. It is apparent to me now that you are. I suppose I cannot keep ignoring you every time you come to stop me at every turn.

"Anyway, that is enough playing around here," he continued on as he began to walk towards a pile of wooden debris. "It is time that I got back on track with my plans and continue on with my search for the detonator."

"Oh, no you don't!" both Zack and Cloud exclaimed as they lunged forward with their swords in an attempt to stop the General in his tracks. Then the young SOLDIER shouted, "You're not going anywhere on our watch!"

"I said that is enough!" the silver haired man exclaimed as he parried their strikes with more strength than before; causing their arms to move back and leave their torsos open. With great speed, he took this small moment of vulnerability and threw a slash at the two. Thankfully, they recovered quickly enough that they were able to move away from the full force of the strike, but they were still caught by the tip of his Masamune and were mildly wounded; Cloud received a slash wound on his lower left ribs and Zack on his upper right chest.

"Damn it!" the raven haired teen growled out through clenched teeth as he placed his hand over the fresh wound on his chest. "That was real careless of me. I should have known that you would have been able to quickly recover from small mess-ups like that. But damn, was what just happened now real? Did the two of us somehow get weaker in our attacks or did you just all of a sudden somehow managed to become stronger than before?"

"You were playing with us the entire time, weren't you?" Cloud breathed out as he winced in pain upon placing his hand on the bleeding wound on his ribs. "I'm willing to bet that was what you were doing the whole time we were fighting. This wasn't the kind of strength you used when we fought you! I can tell that there's a difference in the amount of effort you put in you parry just now. That was pretty much nonexistent in the other blocks you made before this!"

"I did say that it was time to stop playing around earlier, did I not?" Sephiroth repeated in a rather amused tone as he caught Reno's arm, which held his EMR and was prepared for an attack, and effortlessly flipped him on over to his back and onto the metal floor where he landed with a loud thud. "That should have been a very clear indication that I was going to be doing something different from here on out. You must learn to take such noticeable vocal hints such as that. It is quite impressive, though; that you are able to notice the change in power that I exuded. You really are a cadet who is well past his peers in knowledge, skill, and strength. Very good indeed.

"Oh, and for the record, I was not playing with you," the General continued as he dodged the punches being thrown once again by Rude. "I was simply testing all of you; especially you and the two SOLDIERs working with you. I knew that the Turks would be able to handle themselves quite well," he said as he caught one of the punches and held a firm grip on it. He then pulled on the bald Turk's arm, causing him to lunge forward and receive a strong knee right to his stomach. "What I really wanted to see was if you three would also pose a threat to me. At the end of the day," he said with a growl as he threw the now sputtering man to the side and into a pile of debris, "I have concluded that you all do pose a problem to me."

"Are we really that much of a threat for you?" Angeal asked as he, being the only man left standing, went in for an attack. "I find that really hard to believe, considering the kind of confident person that I know, or should I say knew, you to be. Actually, considering that we're threatening the very advancement of your plans," he added as he threw the first swing, "I suppose that that's a very good thing."

"That is the case for you three," the silver haired man stated as he easily brought his blade straight up and deflected the blow before going in with one of his own. "Even though you are relatively weaker than me, you are an indirect threat to me. Unfortunately for the three of you, I cannot have anybody who poses a threat in the stopping of my plans to stand in my way. If that also means that I would have to kill all of you, including you, the person whom I had once called friend until a few minutes ago, then so be it. That is what I must to in order to achieve my plans.

"However, I feel that I have already wasted enough time playing around with the four of you in here," he continued on as he parried another strike and moved in for a counterattack. "It is starting to become somewhat repetitive and boring. It is time that I move on to more pressing matters."

With that said, he used his free arm to deliver a one-hand, three-hit combo. His first strike struck Angeal in the lower left ribs; the second went straight for his abdomen; and the third made harsh contact with his left shoulder. The shoulder strike was actually meant for the left side of his chest where his heart stood guarded by his breastplate; but he managed to move ever so slightly so as to avoid the potentially deadly attack. This did not stop him from moving backwards after the combo was done.

"I am sure that I saw the detonator lying around here somewhere near this pile of wooden debris," the General simply said as he saw Angeal fall to the ground due to the force of his strikes before finishing his trip to the debris pile and beginning to sift through it. "It would be a shame if I got too caught up in our little battle and ended up forgetting all about it. That would completely destroy my purpose in even deciding on coming down to Professor Hojo's lab in the first place."

"W-wait a minute; you knew where that damn thing was the whole time?!" Zack exclaimed as Cloud was trying to heal his chest wound with his Cure Materia. "You knew where it was and still tried to kill us?! Are you sure that you're not just playing around with us right now?!"

"Zack, relax!" the blond demanded as he brought his momentarily brought his healing arm down. "I know you're angry and all that right now; but I can't properly heal your wound if you stay this excited!"

"To hell with my wound, Cloud!" the young SOLDIER shouted angrily, making sure to not make his voice any louder than it had to be and making it sound like he was venting his anger on the blond. The cadet knew better than that, and he did not bother to take it personally. He just continued to try and make his raven haired friend relax enough so he could efficiently tend to his wounds.

Because of his excitement, though, he caused what little healing the magic did managed to get done undo itself and caused the wound to open up and ooze again as if it were just freshly made. He just simply ignored it as he continued to let his excitement get the best of him.

"Just what exactly is going on inside that twisted mind of yours, Sephiroth?" he demanded as he tried to calm himself down for Cloud's sake. "Do you find some kind of sick pleasure in seeing us suffer like this while you have your own borderline torturous fun? Are you trying to kill all of us before we end up figuring out what you already know? Tell me!"

"I will once you have calmed down somewhat, Zackary," the silver haired man calmly replied as he continued to search through the debris without any fear on being attacked; everybody was still recovering from the damage he had done to each of them. "It may be true that I find some modicum of excitement fighting all of you in this fashion; it may also hold true that my little fun could have resulted in your deaths. However, do you really know beyond any doubt that what you said is indeed the truth of the matter here? Are you simply just harboring guesses at what the facts _could_ be instead of what they _should_ be? You know that I do not like just mere guessing, even if they are accusation guesses aimed at me."

"And just what do mean by that?! You just practically admitted that you were torturing us! There's no way that we were just making stupid guesses and accusations here! We're just speaking the truth about what you did!"

"Does it really matter whether or not what you are saying is the truth or a lie? The answer to that simple question is no. All I care about at this point is finding that detonator. Now, where did it run off to?"

A couple more seconds of silent searching later, the General stood up and had a frustrated look on his normally stoic face. He looked thoughtful for another second before he concentrated his gaze on the trio, ignoring the presence of the two Turks who had managed to recover from their daze.

"Say, is there any chance that any of you three happen to have found the detonator here and is now trying to conceal it from me?" he asked as a small unreadable smile began to grace his lips. "I cannot seem to find it anywhere near here and I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"And why are you asking us about that stupid little thing?" Cloud asked as he finally managed to adequately fix up Zack's wound and started to work on his own. "That sounds a lot like something that you should be asking Reno and Rude about instead of us. I mean, they sound like the more obvious choice to go and ask about your stupid detonator instead of us."

"In other words, we don't know anything about it," Zack stated as he took the Cure Materia from the cadet's hands after watching him have some trouble trying to heal his own wound and proceeded to do it for him, forgetting about the Cura Materia he already had on himself. "Maybe you should have taken the damn thing earlier instead of deciding to play around with us. It's your fault anyway for not taking the damn thing while you still had a good chance to do so. Go and bug the Turks about your stupid mistake; don't come crying to us about it."

"I would if I could Zackary, but I have a good feeling that they will not answer my questions to the absolute fullest," the General stated stoically as he stole a glance at the two. "I thought it would have been faster if I just asked you three directly. I see now that I was wrong."

"Sephiroth, we don't have what you're looking for," Angeal said as he rubbed his ribs where he felt the most injury. He was very sure that a bruise from the strike was probably starting to make itself known right underneath his black turtleneck shirt. "All of us in this room haven't had a chance to go anywhere near where you're standing at right now. We were all too busy locked in battle with you to have even been looking for something as small as that."

"…Hmm, the one good thing about being your former friend is that I can tell whether or not you are lying to me," the silver haired man said as his smile continued to stay on that unnaturally stoic face of his. "Because of that, I know that you are telling me the truth on this matter. However, you are only saying the truth based on what you can remember."

"What are you going on about now?" the older SOLDIER asked as Zack moved on to try and heal the areas on his body where he was struck after he fixed Cloud up. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that you are formulating a conclusion out of the things that you both know and remember. You do not have all the information straight in your head and are coming up with an incomplete result. You are not exactly lying; yet you are not exactly telling the truth either.

"If you still do not understand what I am saying here, then let me approach this from a different direction: Are you sure that _everybody_ in this room right now was too busy fighting me to have found and taken the detonator? Are you certain on that being the case here?"

"Yes, I'm very certain on that. Everybody in here was busy fighting you to have been doing much else. You know that my observational skills aren't any weaker when I'm locked in battle with someone or something. I pay careful attention to anything that is unusual to even the slightest degree."

"Yes, that is how you tend to do things when you fight. However, I fear that that is not what happened here. You may have good observational skills, but despite that, you happened to have overlooked something just now. I would take a guess that it was all the debris blocking your view that hindered you from seeing anything that would have been out of the ordinary."

"So what is it that you're trying to tell me here?" Angeal asked as his impatience was starting to make itself known. "Are you trying to say that there is something that I couldn't help but overlook because of all this debris hindering my vision? If that is so, then why don't you tell me what it is that I had no choice but to overlook, given the circumstances in this room?"

"Well, according to the small snippets of conversations I have heard and piece together a coherent picture with," Sephiroth started as he ignored the man's behavior, "I had managed to gain the impression that there were four of you to start with, another cadet if I am not mistaken, before you met up with the good professor for the first time in this very room. Am I right on assuming that to be the truth here?"

At that exact moment, the older SOLDIER took in a sharp breath as he finally realized where Sephiroth was going with all this. His eyebrows furrowed together in concern and he bit the corner of his lip nervously. He knew that the General was telling the truth when he said that he had overlooked something; he just did not know what that something was. Now he knew exactly what the man was insinuating, and that was cause enough for him to feel the way he was feeling now.

"I see you are finally beginning to understand my line of logic here," the General said as his smile grew ever so slightly and reflect a minute amount of pure and evil intent. "Not all of you were busy committing to battle against me for the past few minutes. No, there was one of you who did not participate in the battle in any way possible because he was unable to do so, due to unfortunate circumstances. I can see it in your face that you know who I am talking about right now."

"W-wait a minute!" Zack breathed out as he nearly dropped the Cure Materia that was still in his hand upon realizing himself where everything was going to now. "You're not talking about Adeus right now, are you?"

"So that is his name, is it? It is nice to finally be able to pin a name on the sick young boy. He looked to have a lot of potential strength on him as well. It is a shame, though, that he had to be forced into the transformation process. I would have liked to have done battle with him."

"Reno, Rude, where did you guys last leave Adeus?" Cloud quickly asked as he began to look around frantically for his cadet friend and did not manage to see him anywhere. "I don't see him anywhere in here!"

"He should still be back here," Reno said in a calming tone as he indicated to the debris barricade he and Rude were hiding behind when they first came as he walked towards it. "We left him back there when you guys came. We figured he'd be alright since he couldn't really move around a lot on his own."

"...He still had a fever when we left him back there," Rude stated as he cracked his neck and knuckles a bit. "However, he did look and feel a bit better once we created the serum and administered it to him. Thankfully, the professor's notes seemed to help his condition considerably from what it could be right now."

"Uh, Rude?" the red head said in a tone that did not bode well as he sheepishly poked his head out from behind the pile. With a nervous chuckle, he said, "I know now's not the best time to be telling you something like this, but I think we kind of have a little problem on our hands here."

"…What is it now, Reno?" the bald Turk asked in a slightly impatient tone as he stole a glance at where his partner was standing at. "I hope that this isn't one of your small childish things that can wait until another time. What kind of problem do we have now and is it something that can be taken care of quickly or at a more convenient time than now?"

"Uh, I don't think this is something that can be taken care of quickly or later," he said hesitantly as he continued on with his nervous chuckling. "It's kind of a major problem. Adeus…, Well, he isn't really hiding back here anymore."

"What did you say, Reno?!" Rude exclaimed as he sharply focused his gaze at his partner, abandoning his stoic demeanor and replacing it with shock and concern. "Please tell me you're not being serious here! Tell me that this is one of those times you're pulling one of your immature jokes on me!"

"No joke, man! I'm being dead serious here; Adeus is not here anymore! I think he moved somewhere while we were being preoccupied. I'll search the room quickly and see if he's still in here."

"You guys managed to lose Adeus in here?!" Zack exclaimed as his mouth fell open in shock. "I thought that you two were carefully looking after him?! How could you possibly lose him at a time and place like this?!"

"Hey, it wasn't our fault that crazy General over here decided to drop in on us unannounced!" the red head attempted to defend himself as he began to search frantically for the missing cadet. He was quickly joined by a frantic Cloud, a pissed-off Zack, a very concerned Angeal, and an unusually shocked Rude. "He caught us off-guard and had us moving faster than we were able to think! It was all we could do to avoid both the monsters that came here and his crazy swinging sword!"

"I suggest that you all stop with your futile search for the cadet," Sephiroth simply said as he watched the four move around the lab like crazy in their search attempts with amusement skillfully concealed behind his words. "I already know that he's no longer in here. There is nowhere else in this lab for him to hide. The only place he could have gone was downstairs."

"But that doesn't make any sense at all!" Cloud stated at he stopped his search and glared at the General. "There's no point in him going downstairs all by himself in his condition. He's practically vulnerable to any kind of attack when he's both by himself and not feeling well!"

"Under normal circumstances, I would have to agree with you on that," the silver haired man agreed with the blond without any hesitation. "However, these circumstances are far from normal. The only true reason why he would even attempt to face these apparent dangers and threats to his very life on his own in his current sorry condition is because he has something of great importance on him. If you think of it that way, then it is not too hard to believe as to why he would do something as dangerous as that. Would you not agree with me on that?"

Upon hearing this remark, neither Cloud or anybody else within the room could find their voice to counter the General's words. They knew what he said was considered to be a very reasonable observation and could not be argued against without sounding like a complete idiot that was grasping at straws. All they could do was wince at the physiological pain that his words had done to them.

"Do you see where it is that I am going from here now? If you still do not see it, then I shall make it easy on you all and tell you; your dear cadet friend, Adeus, has made off with the detonator that I so seek. He has it in his possession at this very moment and is running off with it."

"As if you even know he has it in the first place!" Zack exclaimed as he managed to regain his voice. "All you're doing here is just making up stupid guesses from the things that have gone wrong for you. You don't even know for sure if Adeus has the stupid thing on him!"

"Are you saying then, Zackary, that it is all but one big coincidence that the sick cadet just happened to leave this lab at the same time the detonator decided to disappear on me?" Sephiroth asked, knowing full well that the young SOLDIER would not be able to come up with a suitable answer for that. "That sounds highly doubtful for my personal tastes.

"Of course, whether or not you choose to believe what I had just said is entirely up to you," the man continued on as he made for the door that led him out of the lab and into the 67th floor hallways. "Anyway, while the four of you busy yourselves up here trying to decide for yourselves on what you think about that, I will make my leave of you and go in search for the runaway cadet."

"Oh, that's something you're definitely not going to be able to do here!" the young raven haired teen said angrily as he lunged at the General once more with his blade raised high above his head. "That's not going to be happening any time soon while I still have my say in it!"

"Such a wasted effort," Sephiroth sighed as he merely brought his sword behind him after half-turning his body to meet with the young SOLDIER's blade. "Stop struggling and accept what fate has brought upon you."

He then delivered a swift kick at his abdomen and forced him flying backwards right into Cloud. Cloud, who was not really expecting much of anything at this point, was struck hard by Zack's flying body and they both landed on the floor with a grunt of pain.

"Once I find that cadet, every one of you in this room shall die a swift and painless death," the General said stoically as he reached the door and opened it. "You have already lost this war against me. Just sit back and enjoy what little life you have left remaining in your very bodies. Good night, everybody."

Without any more incidents, for everybody else knew that there was little more they could do at this point, the silver haired man exited through the doors and shut it behind him. He left inside the room three very concerned adults and two teenagers who were in pain and trying to get themselves up off from the floor they were forced to fall upon for the umpteenth time this evening. If things have not already taken a turn for the worst, then they certainly have by now.


	29. The Runaway Cadet Hiding Within Hell

**Chapter 28: The Runaway Cadet Hiding Within Hell**

For a few seconds after the General had left, everybody in the room stood quiet and allowed for the events of the past few minutes to fully sink into their heads. Cloud and Zack were busy trying to get themselves off of the floor they were thrown upon; but other than that, nobody really made any kind of movement. It was only when the tense silence threaten to make them crack under its immense pressure did Rude cleared his throat and broke it.

"…Things have literally taken a turn for the worst here," he stated as he crossed his arms and walked slowly towards Reno, whose shock from earlier caused him to sit on the floor next to the debris barricade. "I suggest that we gather up ourselves as quickly as possible and chase after Adeus while we still have the chance. Who knows how far he has managed to get and when he'll be either found by Sephiroth or killed by one of the professor's creatures?"

"B-b-but…!" Zack stuttered out as he struggled to regain his voice and bring his thoughts back in order. With a quick shake of his head in an attempt to clear it up, he continued on in a more steady tone, "But how the Hell are we going to do that?! The General's ahead of us now! I don't think there's any way to get past him without him knowing about it."

"…Which is why we are all going to have to work together here in order to get to Adeus before Sephiroth does," the bald man stated calmly as he nodded at the red head before heading towards the door. "While it may be true that it's quite impossible to get by the man undetected when we run into him, we can certainly try and do so in a different fashion. After all, who said that we couldn't cause a slight distraction and get past him that way?"

"And I'm guessing that we're going to be the ones supplying that distraction you're thinking of, right Rude?" Reno asked as he got up off the floor and gave a small snort before picking up his EMR that was lying just a foot away. "I suppose that would be something that could give us the lead we need right now. Are you sure, though, that this plan of yours is going to work when the time comes? I mean, in case you've forgotten here, this is the General you're talking about trying to distract. I don't think that will really work on him."

"Whether or not this plan of his works, I don't think that we have much of a choice but to work with it," Angeal said as he pinched the bridge of his nose to stifle the small headache that threaten appear and dominate his mind. "Time is something that is definitely not on our side. I would prefer that we acted on whatever rational plan that we can come up with sooner rather than later. After all, we only have enough time to think up of one good plan; so we better not screw this up."

"…Then let's hurry and get a move on then," Rude said as he and Reno made their move towards the door that Sephiroth had left through only moments ago. "As you said Angeal, we must do whatever we can as soon as possible lest we all want to face the end of our lives now."

"Oh, things are starting to get even more interesting now," Cloud sighed out exasperatedly as he picked up his sword that had fallen from his earlier impact with Zack and latched it onto his back. "If not that, then things have definitely gotten more deadlier here. How many more times are we going to have to run into the General and be nearly killed by him before the night is over?"

"Probably more times than you can even imagine," the younger SOLDIER stated sarcastically as he fastened his sword in the same fashion as the blond and made his way towards the door where the other three men were already congregated at. "If you think about it, though, this is one of those rare moments where we want to meet up with him. Wouldn't you agree with that Cloud?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it, Zack," the blond replied with a small smile as he quickly joined the group. "You always managed to find a way to lighten up the mood by even the slightest, you know that?"

"Alright, here's the plan, you guys," Reno said rather hastily as Rude opened the door a crack and peeked out into the hallway to check if the area was clear of any zombies and monsters. "We're going to conduct a quick and thorough check of each floor for the cadet to see if he's still hiding there. It should take no more than a minute before we are to move on to the next floor down. Hopefully, we'll be lucky and find him somewhere Sephiroth decided to overlook. Anyway, do you guys understand what we're doing here?"

"Are you sure we'd be able to check one entire floor in about a minute?" the young cadet questioned the red head Turk with a raised eyebrow. "I know we're on a time restraint and that we have to move as quickly as possible; but aren't you being just a little bit too restrictive?"

"A minute is more than enough time, Cloud," Angeal explained as he saw Rude's hand motioning for his partner to come closer. "The General moves quite quickly; he is able to conduct very thorough checks in a little more than a minute by himself. Take it from me; I've seen him do things like that in record time. If we wish to catch up to him in case Adeus isn't on the floors that we're going to be checking, we'll have to act within this tight time schedule."

"…The coast is clear, everybody," the bald Turk announced as he entered the 67th floor hallway along with his red head partner. "Reno and I'll go together and start combing the area. You three decide how you want to go on with the search. We'll meet at the stairwell in exactly one minute. Let's go, everybody!"

"You two go on ahead and search together," the older SOLDIER suggested as the Turks began their search and he was about to do the same. "Remember, regroup at the stairwell in exactly one minute! No screw-ups or excuses!"

With that hasty warning, he began running in the opposite direction of the two Turks and conducted his portion of the speed search.

"Let's get going," Zack ordered as he began to run down the hallway in the same direction as his mentor with Cloud following closely behind him. "We've less than a minute to get things done on our end here."

"Oh, when are things going to get better for us here tonight?" the blond groaned out as he kept up with his mentor/best friend. "All this running and chasing is really starting to get old here."

For the entirety of the minute that Rude had restricted them all to, everybody went nuts in their search of the entire floor. They made quick skims of every room that they happened to pass by and ignored any zombies that popped up during their absence from this floor. There was no sign of Adeus ever entering one of these rooms and using it as a place to hide away from the killer General.

By the time their one-minute searching period was up, everybody had regrouped back at the stairwell leading back down to the lower floors, just like the bald Turk instructed them to do. Without saying anything, he and Reno entered the stairwell first and made sure nothing was lurking inside and waiting to surprise them. Once they signaled that everything was okay, the two SOLDIERs and cadet quickly went in and followed the two Turks down the stairs. They were moving at such a quick pace; they did not even bother to use the ladder that was still situated in between the 66th and 67th floor stairs.

When they arrived at the 66th floor door, Reno was the first this time to open it and check for any potential dangers that lurked beyond it. After the initial safety check was done, they all repeated what they had done on the floor above; they checked every room that they possibly could within the one minute restraint they were on. In the end, the search was not necessary, for this room was a total bust and was empty except for a few zombies and a monster that they managed to miraculously sneak by without any trouble from it.

This pattern continued on for the next few minutes on each floor that they passed by. Each time they arrived on a new story of the building, they would spend one minute searching and figuring out that it was only a waste of time in the end. They checked every floor for Adeus except for the 63rd. That one was swamped with zombies. They knew that the cadet would not have been crazy nor desperate enough to have gone hiding on that floor; he would not even survive for one minute on that floor. Therefore, they just skipped it altogether and moved on to the next one.

When the group made it to the 60th floor, the original trio realized that they were back on the floor that had the security office in it. Knowing that there was nowhere to hide there except for the office itself, they did not have high hopes in finding the most likely still sick cadet on that particular floor. All the same, though, they had to conduct a thorough check of the area before they could officially say anything. And that was exactly what they were doing right now.

Just as they had suspected, the floor was devoid of any human life. The machines that had appeared when the emergency system was activated were still in the room; however, they were all slashed at with a sword and rendered inoperable. Since there were no Demon Scythe monsters or bodies nearby, the only conclusion they could come up with was that Sephiroth had already passed by and had more or less likely not found Adeus yet. He had probably vented out his aggravation on the machines in the room. This scene did not, however, indicate how long it had been since the General last passed by, so they were not sure how far back they were from him.

"Geez, how far could the two of them have gone in such a short amount of time?" Reno asked as he made a quick search of the office and found it to be empty in terms of people and zombies. "Now we're really going to have a hard time finding Adeus from this point on."

"…I wouldn't exactly be putting it that way if I were you," Rude stated calmly as he approached the elevators that were supposedly still working and examined the black panel above it. "The one good thing about the elevators on this floor on up is that they have indicators indicating which floor it is coming from. Did you honestly forget about that, Reno?"

"Uh, it's pretty easy to forget something as small as that in a place like this," the red head said as the bald Turk pressed the elevator button and saw the number on the panel flash the number ten. "I don't know about you, but I'm bound to forget something as small as that in a place like this.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me here!" he shouted as he finally glanced at the panel that had just flashed the number eleven and was slowly increasing. "Did the kid really go all the way down to the 15th floor? Why in the world did he decide to go so far down this building?"

"We don't even know if Adeus is even really on that floor to begin with ," Zack responded as he gave off a small frustrated sigh. "It's too soon to be saying something like that. For all we know, he could have gotten off at some other floor and pressed a random floor button from inside so that it would go there and throw Sephiroth off of his scent when he came to use the elevator in here."

"I find that to be a highly impossible thing for him to have done, pup," Angeal said as they all waited for the elevator to arrive on their floor. "Don't forget that both he and Cloud have only been a part of the Shinra Army for a couple of months. Unless they received some kind of special treatment that I don't know about, this should be their very first time ever being on these floors.

"You see, the thing with the elevators up here is that they are the only floors that have this number counter on them," the older SOLDIER explained briefly as he tried to find a way to kill the time while they waited. "Anything below the 60th floor doesn't have this feature. Therefore, Adeus doesn't know anything about the floor indicators on this floor."

"So what are you saying here, Angeal?" Cloud asked as he mentally thought back to the other times he used the elevators in this building and found out that the older SOLDIER was right. "Are you saying that Adeus really did go all the way down to the 15th floor?"

"Unless there's something else that says otherwise, that's where I believe he went," the man acknowledged with a small sigh. "Why he decided to all the way down there in the first place, I don't know. The important thing now is that we have to get to him as quickly as possible before Sephiroth does."

"…Although I think that task has gotten harder for us now," Rude said as he watched the counter reach the thirties and continued to climb. "By the time we get into the elevator and arrive at the 10th floor, we'll have lost a lot of time that would be impossible to make up. Anything can happen in that large gap of time, especially when the General is on a rampage in here."

"Well, it's not as though there's anything that we can do about it here," Reno said as he dramatically lifted his arms above his head and brought them down to his sides. "Because of the way this stupid building was built, there are no set of stairs that lead down from this floor. I don't know who built this place and why, but that's just how it is. Don't go crying to me about the facts."

Before he could say anything else, a cell phone was heard ringing. Without any hesitation, the red head dug into his suit pocket and took out his cell phone. He then quickly flicked it open and placed it on his ear; everyone else just watched him since they had nothing else better to do.

"What is it?" the red head asked without bothering to procure a proper greeting or asking who it was that was calling. "We're kind of busy in here."

For a couple of seconds, he stayed quiet as the person on the other end was talking to him. His eyebrows raised a bit during the conversation.

"So you finally made it here," Reno said as he gave off a small smile. "I was beginning to wonder when you were going to call us up and tell us when you arrived, Cissnei."

"…So Cissnei is now here with us, huh?" the bald man asked and received a nod from his partner as an answer. "Has she called Tseng yet and told him that she's made it here?"

"She says that she already did that," the red head answered before going back to his phone conversation. "Are you alright, girl? Tell me where you are so it won't be such a big surprise when we run into each other later."

Another silent second later, the man's face changed and reflected the surprise that had came from whatever it was the woman on the other end of the line said. Apparently, she said something that he was not fully prepared to hear.

"You encountered a flustered cadet while you were inside the elevator?" he repeated, gaining the attention of everybody else in the area. "Did he tell you what his name was?" he asked, his mind filling with a slight suspicion as to who it was Cissnei had found. "…I figured as much on that."

"Well, who is it that Cissnei found?" Zack asked as he, too, had the same thought running through his head. Cloud was slightly confused as to why the raven haired teen used the Turk's name in such a familiar fashion, almost as if he knew and was friends with her.

"It's Adeus, Zack. She's right now on the 3rd floor with the kid and is trying to help him get out of here."

"Is Sephiroth on the same floor with them?" the blond asked in a fluster as he stole a glance at the counter and saw that it was now in the upper forties. "Does she even know that he's already gone insane?"

"I wouldn't go worrying about that too much, Cloud," Reno answered calmly as kept the earpiece of his phone on his ear. "Don't forget that I said that she already contacted Tseng right when she got here. I'm sure that he already told her all that there is to know about the mad General when she did that. You don't have to worry about her not knowing anything about him."

"Alright, that makes me feel a little bit better," the blond said with a small sigh of relief. "At least the person Adeus is with has some idea about the crazy General and knows not to trust him anymore. But is this Cissnei person really someone that we can trust, though?"

"Is Cissnei someone that we can trust?" the young SOLDIER repeated as his face was contorted in a combination of disbelief and his infamous puppy-dog look. "Did you really just ask that? Are you kidding me, Cloud? Cissnei is the only person that you can really trust with all your heart in this entire building, with the exception of Angeal here, that is. Even though she's one of the Turks, she's a person that you can confide in without any fear of what you talk about to her from being known to people who you don't want to have know."

"Hey, what are you trying to say here Zack?" Reno asked with an amused eyebrow raised as he momentarily brought his phone away from his ear. "Are you saying that the rest of us Turks aren't to be trusted as much as our newcomer here? That's kind of judgmental, don't you think?"

"…Well, if you take into consideration how much experience the rest of us have, it's not too much of a stretch that he would find Cissnei more trustable than the rest of us here," Rude stated as he took the phone away from his partner's hands and placed it onto his ear.

"Anyway, on what part of the 3rd floor are you and the cadet on right now, Cissnei?" he asked as he started to talk on the phone. "…In the customer souvenir shop? Is there any way that you can get out of there? …I figured that to be the case. Very well, just stay where you are and wait for us to get to you. Make sure to keep the cadet safe from any harm at all costs. He has something very important on him that mustn't be lost lest you want to participate in a loud and explosive death. We'll see you down there as soon as we can."

"So what's the plan from here, partner?" Reno asked just as the elevator arrived on their floor and the doors opened. "Are we going to be making our way to their floor and help them out?"

"…That's pretty much the plan as of now, Reno," the bald Turk responded with a small and barely noticeable smile as he closed the phone and tossed it back to the red head, who caught it with little effort and quickly tucked it away into his suit pocket. "The chances of the General searching on a floor other than the one they're on right now are good. Cissnei said to me that she exited from the 15th floor and continued the rest of the way on foot in order to throw the man off into thinking they were on the floor the elevator last stopped."

"Sounds like something that she would come up with at a time like this," Zack said with a big smile on his face. "Never put it past her to come up with split-second decisions that could potentially save your life like that. Adeus couldn't be in better hands right now."

"I believe, though, that they said that she was a newcomer to the Turks, is she not?" Angeal questioned Rude, who answered him with a small and quick nod from inside the elevator. "If that is the case, then he won't be in good hands for much longer. How long has she been out in the field conducting missions?"

"…No more than a couple of months," Rude answered as the older SOLDIER entered the elevator, followed closely by the other three. "I would say three at most. She shows great promise, just like the good cadet here. However, she suffers from the same problem as him; she lacks experience."

"I can see why that would cause you to be concerned here," Reno stated just as they started to move down towards the 3rd floor. "At least she was smart enough to get off from a different floor and let us know where she really was. You really got to give her credit for that."

"Rude, I just remembered that you never told us why we need to go down and meet them on the 3rd floor," Cloud said suddenly as he watched the black panel display the floor number they passed and count down slowly. "Did Cissnei tell you what was going on down there?"

"…I assumed that you already knew why we were going down to meet them," the bald Turk answered as he adjusted his shades. "Then again, you couldn't hear her side of the conversation. Remember when Reno and I said that we came in through the 1st floor of this building?"

"You did say something like that back in the lab when we first got together," the blond said as he remembered the event that had happened about a half an hour ago. "You said that… Oh, I see where you're going now."

"Exactly," Reno stated as he spoke for his partner. "I'm sure you remember that the 1st through 3rd floors are connected to each other by a stairwell meant for usage by the general public. After all, those are the only three floors that they have full access to in this building. With that said, I'm sure that those three floors are flooded with zombies. It's not a stretch to think that since the 1st floor itself was so flooded; it was near impossible for Rude and I to even get to the elevators in one piece."

"I'm guessing then that they're both trapped inside wherever it is they're at because of a wall of zombies blocking their only way out, right?" Zack concluded with a small sigh. "That's definitely one of the worst positions that they could possibly be in right now."

"Which is exactly why we must get down to their position as quickly as possible," Angeal finished as he stole a glance at the counter and saw that they were now in the mid-thirties. "If Sephiroth doesn't find and kill them first, then those creatures from the professor's Hell will certainly do the job."

"Oh, we're never going to get another somewhat calm moment like this tonight, are we?" the cadet asked with a small somewhat dejected sigh. "I don't know why, but that's just what I'm feeling here right now."

"Oh, that's probably just your nerves kicking in, you spiky haired Chocobo," the young SOLDIER said as he tried to casually brush the concern off with his good-natured nickname. "You don't have to worry about that right now. I mean, I'm sure we've seen and survive lots of things that were probably a lot worse than what we are about to get ourselves into. Once we're done with this, I'm sure that we'll get another chance to relax for good tonight. Besides, even if we don't, there's always tomorrow for some well-deserved relaxation, right?" he added with his big shining smile.

"Heh, heh, I guess you're right, Zack," Cloud replied with a small chuckle at his best friend's reassuring attitude and the nicknames aimed at him, which added to the reassurance. "If we can't get another calm moment like this tonight, then we can always get it tomorrow."

"That's only assuming that we get live to see the light of day tomorrow, that is," Reno said casually as if they were talking of impossibilities. "You know that there's no guarantee that we're going to be making it out of this alive, right?"

"…Well, we're definitely not going to live to tomorrow if you keep up with that pessimistic attitude, Reno," Rude stated as his voice held a tone of annoyance in it. "Now should be a time that we should be thinking positive and about what we're going to be doing next."

"That and we should be prepared for what is coming next," Angeal added as he took out his Thundara Materia and prepped it in his hand. "We'll be reaching the 3rd floor in a few more seconds. Anything can happen once these doors open."

"I'm guessing that you'll want both me and Cloud to be using our Materia, too, right?" Zack asked as he took his Blizzara Materia out from the handle of his sword and twirled it around in his palm.

"Our weapons are too big to be drawn properly in this small area," the older SOLDIER explained as he threw the misty green orb into the air slightly before letting it bounce back into his palm. "Both Turks here have smaller weapons than can easily be drawn in this space. It's only logical that we prepare ourselves with magic instead."

"Oh, that reminds me," Reno said as he caught Cloud's arm midway from reaching his armlet and quickly brought it in front of him. He then placed something into the cadet's open hand while he was still surprised by the Turk's sudden movement. "I figure that you might find better use of this piece of rock than me. I rather use my trusty EMR instead of having to rely on magic."

After he recovered from his surprise, the blond looked down at his hand and saw a new and unfamiliar Materia occupying the palm of his hand. He picked it up with his thumb and middle finger from the same hand and brought it in front of his face to get a better look at it. It was the same color as the ones Zack and Angeal had in their hands, which indicated that the stone housed either offensive or supportive magic.

"Wh-what's this supposed to be, Reno?" he asked as he felt the elevator begin to slow down a bit. "What kind of magic is held in this one?"

"That, my little blond cadet friend, is what we call a Fira Materia," the red head explained as he readied himself for the potential threat that lied beyond the 3rd floor elevator door they were approaching. "I figured that you either didn't have any Materia on you or didn't have any strong ones on you. I'm very sure that it'll help you more than it will for me. Just make sure that you don't go nuts with it when you use it. Those flames are a lot stronger than your average fire."

"Uh, are you sure that I'm capable of using this right now? I don't think I'm as strong as the others yet, you know?"

"Don't worry, if your battle skills are any indication, you're more than capable of using this one," Zack replied confidently as the elevator almost came to a complete stop. "You've grown quite a lot tonight both physically and mentally; you are practically as strong as us now, and I'm sure everybody here would agree with me on that. I know that you'll be able to use this higher level magic."

"If the puppy says that you're capable of using it, then you better believe him," Angeal said with a reassuring nod of his head. "He's never the type to lie, especially when it comes to your skills. Besides, I have also found that your all-around strength has improved vastly tonight."

"…I'm afraid that you'll have to cut your conversation short," Rude cut in as the elevator dinged once they finally reached their floor. "It's time to get our acts together and prepare to make our way past the flood down here."

"Here we go, guys," Reno said excitedly as the doors began to open slowly. "It's time for us to face this flood of zombies head-on. Gaia hope that this won't be as much trouble with you three here with us this time around."


	30. Through the Sea of Death

**Chapter 29: Through the Sea of Death**

Once the elevator doors had completely opened, all five of them flooded out of the room and were prepared for what was to come next. Amazingly, the 3rd floor was not as filled with zombies as they had first assumed it to be. However, it was still considerably stuffed with them. Their act of storming out of the elevator with their weapons at the ready caused enough commotion for them to be noticed and become the creatures' new prime targets.

"Looks like they're not going to be making it easy for us to get to where we want to go on this floor," Reno said with a sigh that was the total opposite of his cocky smile as he swung his EMR in a practice fashion before letting it settle in front of him, the electrified end pointed menacingly at the creatures. "Well then, it's time that we got this show on the road. We better make this quick, though, if we're going to go and find those two down here."

"…I believe you're somewhat misguided, Reno," Rude corrected his partner as he tugged at the ends of his gloves. "It's not a matter of us having to find the two in here; it's a matter of us getting to them before the zombies have a chance to kill them. Don't forget that we already know where they're hiding out at."

"Oh, I hate it when we have to go rushing like this," Zack stated as he froze a couple of zombies that threatened to get close to them with a Blizzara spell. "There's hardly any room for any of us to be making any mistakes. It's almost as if everything has to be perfect or we all die."

"Oh, that's not really what you think and feel at times like this, do you pup?" Angeal asked in good-natured sarcasm as he summoned a Thundara bolt from above and allowed it to fall into a random part of a crowd of zombies, causing all of them within a certain radius of the bolt to be electrocuted. "That doesn't really suit your normally confident and energetic self."

"Well, being in a place like this where Hell is everywhere you go and you're most likely to be killed by man-eating creatures if you make even the smallest of mistakes can do that to you," the young SOLDIER stated with a sigh, noting his mentor's sarcastic tone, as he found the time to draw his sword and started hacking away at more zombies in front of him. "I guess that it's a good thing I'm an energetic puppy then; otherwise, I probably would've given up on fighting some time ago."

"Whoa!" Cloud suddenly exclaimed as everybody felt a sudden surge of heat surround them. When the two SOLDIERs and Turks stole a quick glance at the cadet to see what had happened, they saw a big fireball moving towards the ceiling and exploding upon contact with it in the next second.

"Uh, my bad?" he said with a nervous chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and let a small innocent-looking smile come across his gradually reddening face. Scratching the back of his head with his free hand in an embarrassed gesture, he said, "I guess I…kind of missed all the zombies, didn't I?"

"You kind of missed all the zombies?" Reno repeated with a mental deadpan as the black cloud that had appeared upon impact began to thin up and a round black spot was seen making its mark on the ceiling. "It's more like you were trying to hit them with your eyes closed. What in Gaia was the point in sending that huge fireball up to the ceiling, you crazy kid? There's nothing up there for you to attack; there's not even a single creepy blade-arm wall-crawler up there!"

"Well, sorry Reno, but it was an accident!" the blond exclaimed, his embarrassed demeanor quickly melting away as he immediately placed the Materia into his armlet and settled on taking his sword into his hands. "It's not as though I was trying to aim at the ceiling on purpose. That Fira Materia you gave me earlier was stronger than I thought and I wasn't really ready for the kickback. That's why my aim was way off and it went up instead of towards the zombies."

"Of course there was going to be some kind of kickback, Cloud!" the red head stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he bludgeoned a zombie near him in the head with his EMR and stuffed the electrified end in the chest on another. "It is the stronger version of the Fire Materia, after all. What else did you expect would happen here, a beautiful display of fireworks to accompany it?"

"Well, if someone had told me about it before I went using it, maybe I would've been better prepared for that," the cadet countered as he sliced one down and took out a few others that approaching him. "None of you told me that something like that was going to happen when I used it."

"Look, we're sorry for not warning you about that, Cloud," Zack apologized rather hastily as he swung his sword horizontally and took out three in front of him in one go. "Can you really blame us on that, what with everything that's happening in here? Let's just forget about it now and get to that stupid store in here that Cissnei and Adeus are trapped in!"

"Don't get too excited, pup," Angeal warned as he cast another Thundara spell, this time letting this one travel along the floor and bulldozing through the undead crowd, giving all of them a temporary pathway through.

"As if I can help it right now!" the young SOLDIER replied excitedly as he immediately dashed through the slowly closing opening and slashed at whatever zombie that dared to get near him. "If we don't move now, not only will they be dead, but the rest of us will be following them, as well!"

"Z-Zack, wait for me!" Cloud shouted as he chased after his best friend and dodged in-between the zombies that were quickly filling in the space they were jolted out of, making the space too cramped to make good use of his sword. "You can't go saving them by yourself. You need some backup with you!"

Luckily for the blond, he was smaller, skinnier, and quicker than other cadets like him; features that many in the Shinra Army found to be completely unfitting for a SOLDIER candidate. Fortunately, he found ways to use those otherwise disadvantageous traits to his advantage in all trainings he participated in. He was now thankful that he had found ways to utilize his features into something that could help him now.

Using the skills that he had both learned from Zack's training and from himself, he dodged between zombies with his slim build whenever he saw a gap that was large enough for him to squeeze through. His size came in handy whenever he needed to do duck underneath a few festering hands that threatened to either grab a hold of him or scratch him. Together with his speed, he was one human that the flood could not capture; even with a sword in his hand that supposedly made it harder for him to slide through gaps easily, they still could not catch him. Unfortunately, those traits of his that he utilized to his advantage soon became obsolete as the gaps quickly closed and he was being trapped and surrounded by them.

"Oh, damn it!" he exclaimed fearfully as he frantically looked around and saw all of his potential escape routes closed off and the wall of flesh quickly closing in around him. "I really went over my head here this time."

"Cloud, get down!" the older SOLDIER shouted as he threw another Thundara bolt from above the blonde's head, the blond quickly complying with the order. However, instead of having it come straight down and hitting the cadet, which was never his intent from the moment he cast the spell, he had the thunderous harpoon split into two separate spears a few feet above him. In so doing, the two severed bolts struck the flood of zombies coming from both sides of the cadet, allowing the teen a bit more maneuvering room to reach his friend.

"Thanks for the help, Angeal!" the blond shouted in a relieved tone as he threw a thankful gesture with his hand at the man. He then got up and hacked away at a zombie that was stumbling around in a daze as a result from the bolt. "I'll make sure Zack's not in over his head right now and back him up!"

"The kid's pretty energetic and determined, isn't he?" Reno asked with a snort as he, along with Rude, knocked back a few zombies and slowly made their way in the direction the two teens went. "Even after he was almost killed in that huge sea of smelly rotten flesh, he still continues on to try and get to where Adeus is at. He must be pretty crazy to keep on going like that."

"…Well, wouldn't you be if your good friend was in trouble like theirs is right now?" Rude asked as he knocked a few in the heads and kicked a few more out of the way. With a quick adjustment of his shades, he added, "I'm surprised that you didn't decide to go running along with them. I thought that you and Cissnei happen to become good friends and that you would be just as concerned for her well-being as the two are with the cadet."

"Oh, that girl can take care of herself in here," the red head stated casually as he took a couple of steps into the clearing they had created and swung his EMR around wildly in front of him. If there were not any zombies with them right now, it would have looked like he was trying to swat away some flies. "She's shown me a couple of times just how well she can handle herself in situations like this.

"Besides, I wouldn't go diving into a sea of man-eating monsters just to get to them," he added as he paralyzed one of the creatures and quickly kicked it out of the way. "That's just too damn risky for my tastes. I don't know about you; but I'm not one to gamble with my own life here."

"It's unfortunate, then, that we have no choice but to gamble with our lives here so that we'd be able to catch up with the Zack and Cloud," Angeal said with a small repressed sigh as he used his sword and advanced into the crowd with every swing he made, causing him to be ahead of the two Turks. "I suppose it's time that you start getting used to the idea, Reno."

"Are you serious? Gaia, how did you ever managed to work with that restless SOLDIER, much less train him into what he is today? With his childishness and endless energy, I don't see how he managed to train the little blond boy with him. One's small and holds lots of surprises; the other is strong, but way too energetic. That's not the greatest of combinations for two friends to have. They're both strong but too energetic when they're together. That's a recipe for disaster right there."

"…At least they'll be able to get to Cissnei and the cadet before us," the bald Turk stated as he punched a zombie at the same time his partner struck it with the electrified end of his EMR, causing it to fly backwards and into the zombie crowd, catching the others behind it off-guard and making them fall backwards to the floor. "They're further along in this dense crowd of death than we are. They have a better chance at getting to them than we do from here."

"Let's just hope then that they don't end up getting swamped by this death trap and killed along the way," the older SOLDIER added with a hint of worry in his words as he continued to hack away at the oncoming flood of monsters. "Otherwise, all this work would have been for nothing. That's something that we really don't need to have happen to us right now."

For the next minute or so, the two Turks and the SOLDIER proceeded through the crowd one step at a time, making sure to keep their path clear of any creatures. Angeal would have used his Thundara Materia to help them along, but the magic was powerful and, even though he could probably handle using it a couple more times, he needed to save his strength. He could not risk being exhausted at a potentially dangerous moment. Sure, he was probably over-thinking things a bit, but he figured that it was better than feeling overly secure about the situation in here. As such, he resorted to using his sword, which took up a lot less effort and energy to swing. It also allowed them to better combine their attacks when the need arose.

As Reno was keeping up with his end of things, he was muttering a couple of things under his breath. Amidst all the action going on, the SOLDIER could barely hear what he was saying. However, he did happen to hear a few snippets every now and then, allowing him to create full sentences using common sense. He seemed to be muttering about how the 1st floor was more crowded than this and had expected it to be somewhat easier. Despite those and a few other complaints spilling out of his mouth, he still kept up with the fight without any problems and either bludgeoned or electrocuted any zombie that came near him or his allies.

Rude was as quiet as he usually was whenever he was inside or out of battle. Even though he talked a few times during the calm moments and a couple in the heat of the moment, his partner knew better than that. He only spoke when he was either addressed to or had some kind of advice or comment that would be of help to their situation. Other than that and the very rare exclamations of surprise, he was a generally quiet Turk. The red head figured that it was either his nature to be so uptight or his martial arts training in discipline. Whatever it was, it was allowing for him to survive and fight back against the zombies with the others.

By the time they were halfway towards the store that Zack and Cloud had ran towards earlier, they saw another big fireball materialize out of nowhere. This time, though, it made contact with the zombies and most of them were thrown backwards. Those that were sent flying then crushed others that they landed on in a flaming heap. This caused quite a bit of chaos amongst the zombie ranks and they dispersed somewhat, giving the two Turks and the SOLDIER a clear run the rest of the way. A couple managed to survive the blast and the crushing, but they were not something that they could not handle and easily struck them down while avoiding the others that had began to gather behind them.

Once they reached the area where there were the most burning zombies and the strong scent of smoldering flesh melding with the decay around, they saw two people standing in the middle of it all. They were Zack and Cloud. Zack had a look of both pure amazement and excitement in combination with his trademark smile directed at Cloud. The blond had a slightly shy and boyish smile of his own on his face as he held on tightly to what seemed to be the Fira Materia Reno had given to him earlier. It seemed as though he tried out the magic again and managed to successfully aim and control it this time around. Their facial expressions changed, though, once they returned from the excited high they were in, and the scent of smoldering and decaying flesh reached their noses and brought them back to reality.

"Oh, god that ranks!" the young SOLDIER exclaimed as he immediately brought his hand over his nose and pinched it in an effort to block out the extremely foul scent. The scent was so strong, though, that he could still smell it while breathing through his mouth. With a couple of repressed gags, he managed to choke out, "I haven't smelled anything this bad since I accidentally left a carton of spoilt milk in the fridge for months. Even that smelled better than this! Ulp!"

"Maybe it'll help if you can put out the fire," the blond cadet suggested as he looked like he was about to throw up and put his face into his uniform. After taking a deep breath inside, which he later regretted and started to suffocate, he suggested, "Can't you do that with your Blizzara Materia?"

"I can try," he said as he tried to regain his composure at the same time he pulled out his Materia from its resting place on his armlet. "I can't guarantee that it'll help mask the stench. I might need your help making this plan of yours work, though. I can't do it on my own."

With a quick flick of his wrist, Zack summoned a huge ice boulder that stood suspended in the middle of the air. It then broke apart piece by piece and turned into smaller chunks that stood suspended in a circular formation. It kept on going until each piece was uniformed in size. They then quickly moved around and formed a small circle consisting of a little over a dozen ice chunks. As a result of being split apart from the main magic source, it was not as strong as if it was a whole, but that was of little consequence, for they were not trying to attack anything here. They were just trying to douse the fire and lighten the stench.

Seeing the chunks of ice in the circular formation as his cue, Cloud immediately brought his Materia up to the air and summoned a big fireball above him. From that ball of heat, a bunch of smaller flames popped out of it and the main flame progressively grew smaller as more small ones formed. Eventually, the big flame diminished and was replaced with a good dozen or so of smaller ones. With a quick small gesture of his hand, he directed the fireballs right at the still stationary chunks of ice where they made contact and caused them to explode in a flurry of water droplets that fell onto the metal floor and effectively took out most of the flames the original Fira spell caused. What little that did survive the man-made rain soon burned down a few seconds later.

"Well, that was a pitiful way to clean up the air here," Reno said as he wrinkled his nose a bit at the scent that had dulled down a bit after the short rain. "At least you guys know how to put out fires when the occasion calls for it. Now we know who to call when there's ever a big fire that needs to be put out."

"Hey, at least it worked in bringing down that intense smell a couple of levels," Zack retorted as he suppressed a few coughs that were a result of the still stagnant air. "Now we can breath somewhat easier around these burned creatures."

"…I'm sure I can say that Cloud is a very quick learner," Reno commented as he scanned the room and saw a few zombies here and there. They were all pretty much disoriented from the previous Fira attack and posed no harm for the time being. "Just a moment ago, he couldn't aim the spell for the life of him. Now, he's able to execute it perfectly."

"The boy always was a fast learner," Angeal stated with a smile as he placed his sword behind him for the time being. "He was always able to pick up on what Zack was teaching him after a couple of tries. He's definitely a prodigy at this."

"Oh, I just pay attention to what he said and try to do what he does," Cloud humbly replied as he felt his cheeks heat up. "I'm no prodigy or anything. If anything, I'm just a low-level cadet trying to make his way up in this place."

"Don't sell yourself short, spiky," the young SOLDIER teen said as he threw the blond a big smile. "You have the potential to become something great here. If the people who run the SOLDIER program can't see it, then there's definitely something wrong with them."

"That sounds a lot like something you would say, Zack," an unfamiliar female voice said with the sound of a smile in her words. "I must say, though, that it's very reassuring to hear a familiar voice in this place."

Looking over to where they heard the voice coming from, the four directed their attention to the entrance of what looked to be their destination. Standing just outside of it with the automatic glass doors opened was a young woman who looked as though she had just entered adulthood. She had on the same attire as the other Turks, and she also had red hair like Reno's. However, it was not as bright and was leaning more towards the brown side and had a net, yet frizzy look about it. As was hinted in her words, she was smiling at the group in a warm way that could easily put them at ease.


	31. Life and Hope Beyond the Sea of Death

**Chapter 30: Life and Hope Beyond the Sea of Death**

"Cissnei!" Zack exclaimed happily as he gave off an ecstatic smile and was practically glowing with excitement. "You're alright! That's another bit of good news in this Hellhole. You have no idea how great it is to see somebody else that I know walking around alive in here."

"Of course I'm alright, Zack," the female Turk, whose name was acknowledged to be Cissnei, said in an amused tone, her voice projected clearly and sounding like that of a young woman, as she crossed her arms in a way that she was holding on to both of her elbows. "I wouldn't have been able to work as a Turk if I wasn't able to handle myself well in situations such as this. I'm just happy that you're alright along with everybody else. I was starting to worry about you when I came and saw for myself what was going on here."

"Oh, you know that there's no need for you to be worrying about me," the young SOLDIER stated proudly, completely ignoring everything around him as his smile changed into one of cockiness. "I can take care of myself just fine, after all. Just as it is with you, I wouldn't have made the cut as a SOLDIER, 1st Class if I couldn't take care of myself during something as crazy as this."

"Uh, as much as I am enjoying this happy little reunion, I think we have more important things to be talking about," Reno interrupted as he stepped forward and approached the female Turk. "We didn't come down here just so we could discuss things that don't really need to be talked about right now. We do have some really important things to be doing right now, you know?"

"You know Reno, you could try showing a little bit more concern than that for your colleague." she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Honestly, even the most battle-hardened SOLDIER and devoted Turk would feel some at least some concern for their fellow coworkers. You really ought to work on that whenever you get the chance after all this.

"Anyway," she continued on with a small sigh, "if the important thing you're talking about here is the cadet that I ran into on the elevator, then he's right now taking a little break from his escape. He does look a bit pale in the face; but overall, he's as great as he can be in this place. He's even strong enough to take care of himself when the occasion calls for it."

"Where's Adeus right now?" Cloud asked rather abruptly, yet politely at the same time as he tried to look into the store behind her but ended up giving up when he could not see past the Turk. "I don't see him anywhere. Is he hiding out by himself somewhere in that back of that place?"

"Yes, he's hiding inside by himself for the time being," she answered with a warm smile as she stepped aside from the doorway and allowed him passage through. "If you like, you can go on ahead inside and see him. I left him in the back of the store where all these monsters would have a harder time getting to him. The store itself is pretty safe inside, so there's no need to worry about any unexpected zombies coming out to kill him or anything like that."

"Alright, I'll go ahead then and see him," the blond said before rushing into the store in search of his friend that he had not seen for at least an hour, leaving the others outside. Just before he was out of earshot, he said, "Thanks for making sure he was alright on his own, Cissnei."

Cissnei merely nodded at the voiced appreciation as she saw the cadet turn a corner down an aisle and disappeared from view. She then turned back around and faced the other three that still stood outside; the zombies were still moving around in a stupid daze from the Fira spell Cloud had caused, so they were all still relatively safe for the time being.

"I take it that those two teenagers are the same cadets that you told me you were training, right?" she asked with an amused smile as she made eye contact with Zack. "I happened to see the blond one fight the zombies and expel his magic just now; Adeus also managed to protect me from a few of those zombies on our way here in his weakened condition. I can't believe that they're both just normal cadets.

"Skills like that of a person with great acuity and strength in combination with the tenacity like that of a SOLDIER…" she added thoughtfully. "Their skills alone would definitely match those of a regular 2nd Class SOLDIER. Just think if they were to combine their skills together. They would probably give a 1st Class SOLDIER a good run for his money."

"Of course they would be able to do that," Zack answered proudly as he smiled brightly at the woman's praise. "That's because I'm the one who personally trained both of them. They got the teachings from one of the best SOLDIERs in Shinra stuck in their heads now."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that you're one of the best SOLDIERs here," Angeal corrected with a small smirk forming at the corners of his lips, earning him a small glare of annoyance from his student. "However, what you do teach them is without a doubt some of the best I've seen so far. It's definitely a one-of-a-kind on its own. You go all out in making sure that they all understand what you're saying."

"…I think we're starting to get a bit off track here," Rude stated in an attempt to steer the conversation back on course as he fiddled with his shades. "Did Adeus happen to say anything to you Cissnei during the time you two were trying to make your way down here together?"

"Well, he did mention something about trying to run away from Sephiroth," Cissnei explained as he motioned for all of them to get inside the store where it was safer. "He said it in a big rush, so I didn't really get to hear much of what he was saying. I did manage, though, to hear him say that he found something that seemed to be what the General was looking for. Once he got it, he snuck away from the fight he said you all were in at the time."

"I'm guessing that was when he had decided to disappear on us," Reno said thoughtfully as he rolled his eyes a bit. "The damn kid really had me worried there for a second. Oh well, at least we know that he's okay and he really does have the detonator on him. Thankfully, that's the only way now for the self-destruct system to activate since we dismantled the automatic programming and everything else that requires the human touch to activate."

"…Unfortunately, Professor Hojo thought ahead in case something like that should happen," the bald Turk said as they were led to the back. "Unless he's hiding more things from us, and this is a big 'if' I'm talking about here, that detonator on Adeus's hands should be the last thing that can blow this place up. Does he still happen to have it on him, by the way?"

"Yes, he does," she said with a quick nod of her head. "In fact, he even showed the device to me while we were on our way down the elevator. It seemed as though he wanted me to hold on to it, but I thought it would've been safer if he kept it for the time being, so it's still with him. I was kind of waiting until I called you before I went and did anything with it."

"…So he still has it on him? Good, we're still ahead of the General then, but only just. We're going to have to do something with that thing as quickly as possible before that man figures out we're down here. It'll only be a matter of time before he gets to this floor and finds us here."

"And what are you suggesting we should do Rude?" Angeal asked as they finally reached the area where Cissnei had hid Adeus, who was sitting on the floor, and saw him talking with Cloud, who was crouching right next to him. "With the enormous flood of zombies we fought through just now, I believe you now when you say that there were a lot on the 1st floor. According to your partner here, there are even more of them down there than up here. I don't think that escaping with the detonator would be a good thing to have on your list of plans here."

"You obviously don't know anything about Rude here," the red head said as he raised an eyebrow at the SOLDIER. "If you have hang around with him as long as I have, then you would know that that's not how his mind works. He's not the type to disregard any kind of idea, no matter how impossible or crazy it may seem. As long as it has something to do to help him achieve his goals, no idea is too crazy or impossible for him to not consider."

"…I would appreciate it Reno if you refrain from painting me as a crazy man who would do anything to achieve what he wants," the bald Turk said as he rolled his eyes, a move that only Reno could sense happening behind those ebony shades of his. "I don't want Angeal to start thinking ill of me because of your rather crude choice of words used to describe me.

"Nevertheless, I must admit that you are right in the point that you tried to get across to him. As long as a plan can lead me to my desired goal, then it shouldn't be immediately discarded simply because it's too impractical or something along those lines. I've learned the hard way from experience to not do that; I almost lost my life when I abandoned a potentially good plan.

"Anyway, with that said," the man continued, catching the red head off guard for he had never heard his partner talk so much in one go before, "I'm sure that you already know what I'm getting at here. Attempting to leave this place with the detonator in our possession is one of the very few courses of actions left open to us at this point. If we are to have any hope in putting a stop in the General's plans for world domination, we have to get the thing as far away from him as possible. He shouldn't be able to find it if we can leave without him knowing and following us."

"Or we could just try dismantling the damn thing," Zack suggested as he crouched down next to Adeus and did a quick scan of him for any injuries. "I think that sounds like a safer thing to do than to make our way through the enormous flood of zombies waiting for us on the 1st floor. Plus, it sounds a whole lot easier than having to not only run from old Sephiroth, but to also hide it once we're far enough from him and then hoping that he never finds it and digs it up."

"If that's what you're going to suggest, then we at least need to see what the damn piece of crap machinery looks like," Reno said as he brought out his hand in a demanding way. "We need to know whether or not the thing can be broken up safely before we go around destroying it. We could accidentally make it set off. It is a way to set off a bomb, after all."

"I'm way ahead of you on that thought, Reno," Adeus, who sounded a lot better since the last time they were able to talk in such a relaxed fashion, said as he threw a small black metal object at the Turk, who caught it and started to examine it. "You can have it now. That thing was Hell to get out of that messy lab, what with all the crazy things that were going on in there at the time. That and just holding onto it was starting to scare me a bit. Who would've thought that such a small thing can house the potential to destroy this entire city?"

"I guess that means you're feeling a whole lot better," the young SOLDIER teased the raven haired cadet with a smile. "It's good to know that you're not going to be turning into one of those damn creatures now. You don't know how worried I've been about you this whole time."

"I can only imagine," the cadet said as he got up from the floor. "Sorry for making you go through that, Zack. I'm fine now, thanks to those two Turks over there. I especially have Cissnei to thank. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to even make it to this place."

"You're lucky, then, that you ran into her when you did," Cloud said as he gave a friendly pat on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're well enough, though, to be moving around a lot right now? I mean, you only took the serum no more than an hour and a half ago. It may have already stopped your transformation process, but I don't think you've fully recovered yet."

"Oh, don't worry about me, Cloud; I'll be fine," he insisted as he reassured the blond with a quick smile. "Besides, I don't think I can really spend anymore time trying to recuperate here. I may have been out of it for a while; but I still know what's going on around here. The last time I checked, we have a killer General on the loose here searching for what I took from the lab."

"…That was the riskiest thing you could have done," Rude stated as he took the device from Reno's offering hand and examined it for himself. "You could've easily been killed by Sephiroth. I'm amazed that you managed to sneak right by him without him or any of us noticing you."

"Well, you were all seemingly getting the upper hand against him at the time," the raven haired cadet explained as he picked up his sword that was leaning against a store shelf. "You were all into it and he was really getting frustrated. I figured that I could just use that moment and dodge behind the things he destroyed until I got out of the door. By the time I reached it, he had turned the tables on you, or that's what I saw at least. I didn't stay around long enough to really see what was going on."

"So you were already gone for a while when we first discovered you missing," the red head summed up as he took a small bag of chips from a nearby shelf and opened it. After popping one into his mouth, he said, "You really have a lot of guts to be trying to sneak out under the General's nose. You are _really_ lucky that he didn't manage to catch you doing that."

"You're not seriously eating at a time like this, are you?" Cissnei asked with a small groan. "We have more important things to be doing now instead of that. You can eat once we're out of this mess."

"There's no better time like the present to start eating when you're hungry," he said as he munched on a few more chips. "Besides, I'm not just trying to satisfy my stomach. This is my way of calming my nerves down a bit. I know I really don't show it, but I'm scared as heck in here."

"…I'm sure we all are, Reno," the bald Turk said with a slight nod as he held onto the detonator tightly. "However, I must say that you should find another way to calm your nerves. Eating can sometimes make things worse for you. Anyway, it's time that we started to discuss our next course of action. We can't spend anymore time than it is necessary in here."

"Then how about we start with the most obvious question here?" Angeal suggested as he took a black stone knife sharpener from a shelf and started to sharpen his sword with it. "Can that piece of machinery be destroyed without suffering any kind of consequence in doing so?"

"…I'm sorry, but I can't tell. There's no way for me to open it up and see what's inside, so I can't tell if it's safe enough to just go ahead and destroy it without concern. I'll assume the worst, however, and advise that we don't destroy it. We can't afford being wrong on this and killing the thousands of people who live here, not to mention ourselves as well."

"So the only workable option we have left to work with is that we try and escape from this place in one piece, right?" the older SOLDIER asked as he blew the stone and metal dust on his blade and rubbed his thumb ever so lightly on the blade to test its sharpness. "I had a feeling we were going to be coming back to that first suggestion of yours."

"So we're going to have to do this the excruciatingly hard way, right?" Zack sighed out in annoyance as he took the sharpening stone from his mentor's hands and began to sharpen not his, but Adeus's sword. Apparently, he felt that his own blade was just fine and wanted to give the raven haired cadet a better chance at survival. Angeal, however, did not agree with his thoughts and plucked his blade right off his back. He then took another stone off the shelf and began to sharpen the blade, much to the raven haired SOLDIER's silent protest.

"I suppose that's one way of putting it," Reno stated as he crumpled up the now empty bag of chips and threw it haphazardly behind his back. Brushing the crumbs from the front of his suit, he added, "Getting out of here is going to be just as hard as trying to make our way in here. The only difference this time around is that we got a lot more people helping us this time around."

"I'm sure that it's going to be a lot easier than trying to get in by yourself," Cissnei added as she picked up a couple of round red metallic objects that resembled the pinwheels that the ninjas of Wutai usually use. What was different about these, though, was that it had a more open center to it and there were a lot of small spikes protruding out of it. This gave it the ability to not only be used as a long-ranged weapon, but also for short-range fighting. "Trust me on that guys; I've experienced that myself just trying to get in here."

"None of us said you were lying, Cissnei," the raven haired SOLDIER teen replied as he blew off the dust from the blade and tested it in the same fashion as his mentor did before handing it back to Adeus, who took it into his hands with a tight grip. "When it comes to things in here, any of us can believe what another says about what they did in here."

"As long as we work together here, I'm sure that we'll be able to make it out of here," Cloud said in a supporting manner as he allowed Zack to take his blade and sharpen it as well. "After all, ever since this whole mess started, we've been gaining more allies as the night goes on. From my point of view, I only started out with Adeus. Now, we have two SOLDIERs and Three Turks on our side. If the seven of us can't make it out of here together, then there must be something seriously wrong with us."

"Well said, Cloud," the older SOLDIER complimented the blond as he laid Zack's sword on a shelf right next to him just as Zack himself handed back Cloud's now sharpened sword. "As long as we keep our senses sharp and stay well prepared for anything, we'll be able to make it out of this alive; all of us."

* * *

Hello! Hope you all like this chapter. This is like the act before the whole thing comes together; a threshold into the final scene, if you will. Anyway, please don't forget to leave a review on how you think everything is going right now. Thank you and see you in the next update!


	32. How to Escape from the Hell in Shinra

**Chapter 31: How to Escape From the Hell in Shinra**

"So how do you plan on having us get out of here alive with all those zombies roaming around on the 1st floor?" Zack asked as he picked up his sword and wiped away some stray dust. "I honestly can't come up with anything here. If any of you have an idea on how to get out of here in one piece and not in a post-transformation state, then I'll be more than happy to hear it now."

"…Even if Cloud uses the Fira Materia again like he did earlier, I don't thing it would be of much help with the two large blade creatures roaming around down there," Rude said as he thought about their escape plan. "It was already a miracle in itself that it didn't come up here because of the commotion we were making. There's probably more than two down there now."

"I'm sure we can handle the zombie flood," Angeal thought out loud as he looked over a few items on the shelves. "However, I see what you're thinking when it comes to those creatures. They could prove distracting and, in turn, fatal if not dealt with the right way. If we're in the middle of the zombie sea, then we will not stand a chance fighting it, much less be able to outrun them."

"You better have another way out planned for us then Rude," Reno said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not going to go back up in the elevator. Anything can happen while we're in there, including an unwanted run-in with Sephiroth."

"If we can't go up past this floor and we can't go down through the 1st floor, then how are we going to get out of here?" Cloud asked as he bit his lip nervously. "I haven't been down here much, so I only know of one way out of here, and that's through the front doors on the 1st floor."

"…If you think of it that way, then that is the only conventional way out of here," the bald Turk said as he took off his shades, revealing a pair of slightly wide, non-serious looking brown eyes that hid behind them, and wiped them down. He then placed them back on, once again hiding his eyes from everybody.

"What do you mean by conventional?" the blond inquired as he raised a questioning eyebrow at the man.

"I'm saying that you're basically thinking of things from a reasonable point of view," the man continued on as he tightened his gloves. "If you were to think of things outside of the box, though, then we actually do have another exit available to us. However, it is only accessible through this floor."

"You're not actually saying that we should jump out the window from up here, are you?" the SOLDIER teen asked with wide eyes. "The jump would kill us from all the way up here if we did that. We may be SOLDIERs with lots of strength and all that, but we're not indestructible."

"…That's not what I was trying to suggest, Zack. I was suggesting that we try to get onto the road through the window. If we can just get there, then we'll be able to get out of here safely."

"You want us to try and get onto the highway through the 3rd floor window?" Angeal repeated, this time his turn to be shocked at what he was hearing. "How do you expect us to pull off something like that Rude? That highway is a good few of yards away from here. Even though the highway is roughly at the same level as the 2nd floor of this building, we won't be able to make it even halfway if we try to jump to there. Not even a running start would help us here."

"…I never said anything about us physically trying to jump onto the freeway. I only said that it would be our only way out of this building without having to go through the wave of zombies downstairs. Don't forget that I'm trying to think outside of the box here."

"W-wait a minute; you're not thinking on doing what I think your thinking on trying to do, are you Rude?" Reno asked in a confusing slur of words, his eyes beginning to widen as he started to understand just what his partner was planning.

"I think he is, Reno," Cissnei answered as she also seemed to have caught on to Rude's plans. "I would if I could call him and his plan crazy, but I don't see any other safe way out of this mess we're in."

"How about one of you go ahead and start explaining it to those who are completely in the dark here?" Adeus asked as he paced around a bit with his sword in hand. "Just what is it that he's planning to do?"

"I don't know if you and Cloud would understand, but I'm sure Zack and Angeal will," she said as she started to explain the plan the bald Turk had laid out for them. "The both of you do happen to remember what's located on the 1st floor of this building, do you?"

"Yeah, that's where the Shinra Company puts all of their most recent creations and all the crap on display for every civilian to come and see," Zack replied without any hesitation. "It's just a place for them to show off their skills and whatnot. What does that have to do with Rude's plan on getting out of here?"

"And what does the Shinra Company usually have on display there most of the time?" she continued on with her question, not bothering to answer the young SOLDIER's question.

"They usually have many types of machines on their display areas," the older SOLDIER answered, seeing that his student was frustrated at not having his question answered. "However, the ones that have seen the most amount of popularity are the new line of vehicles they always manage to create. …Oh, I see now. I see where this is all starting to go."

"Wait a minute," Cloud said in a rush as he finally understood what their plan of escape was going to be. "You're not saying that he's planning on having us take one of those vehicles in here and busting our way out of here through the 3rd floor window and onto the freeway, are you?"

"I think that's what he's saying," Adeus confirmed as he realized what the bald Turk was saying they should do. "If we can't just simply jump onto the freeway, then we'll get onto it with something that has good speed on it; namely, one of the vehicles that they have housed in the showroom area on the 1st floor."

"If I may just point something out Rude…," Reno started before he was abruptly silenced by his partner's hand rising up in front of him in a shushing motion.

"I don't want to hear it, Reno," Rude said in a dead serious tone. "If you don't want to live to see another day, then feel free to stay here while the rest of us try out my plan. I don't need you to tell me how risky and stupid this is. I know full well just how dangerous what I'm suggesting is."

"I'm not saying that I don't want to go with you on your plan," the red head retorted rather angrily at his partner's weak accusation. "I was just going to say that I didn't like the sound of crashing through the window in some kind of car or truck or whatever and hoping that we'll be able to make it onto the highway like that. It's just way too risky."

"Yet if you weighed the risks involved in both that and trying to muscle our way out of here, you will surely see that trying to make our way onto the freeway yields a higher rate of success," the bald Turk countered with a sigh as he whipped out his phone. "If you were to give me a choice between the two, I'd rather take my chances on the risk that has a higher chance of success."

"Who are you going to call at this time Rude?" Cissnei asked as she saw the man begin to dial a number on his phone. "I really don't think now is a good time to be doing that."

"Quite the contrary, Cissnei. Now is the most opportune time for me to be calling someone, namely Tseng. You see, I have this feeling that once we're on the freeway, we're going to have to try and get away from Midgar as quickly as we can. I'm sure that Tseng summoned a helicopter to escort Professor Hojo out from the president's office. He shouldn't be too far away, if he's not still hovering around the vicinity of the building as we speak."

"I'm guessing that you're calling him so you can have him meet up with us at some point on the freeway, right?" Cloud asked as he saw the man start to head towards the exit of the store.

"…You've hit the bull's-eye, Cloud. That's exactly what I'm calling him for, to establish a contact point where he'll meet up with us."

"You know, I don't think I've ever been on a mission as complicated as this before in my entire career as a SOLDIER," Angeal commented as he waited for everybody else to head towards the exit while he led the rear. "First it was a mission to find Professor Hojo; then it was to try and stop Sephiroth from destroying the entire city of Midgar; now we're trying to get away from here with the General's only means of activating the destruction system upon this city. I've never been on something like this before; and all in one day, no less!"

"Well, there's always a first for everything, right Angeal?" Zack asked with a shrug of his shoulders as he occasionally diverted his gaze at Adeus, who was walking right next to Cloud just fine, despite having just recovered from his transformation ordeal.

"Speaking from a cadet's point of view, it's our dream to be on a mission with one of the members of SOLDIER," Adeus added in nonchalantly. "This wasn't what I had in mind when Cloud and I were assigned to you for this mission by Director Lazard. I never thought that I would be so close to transforming into one of those creatures and witness the General go insane."

"Then I suppose that you should consider yourselves very lucky," a frighteningly familiar voice stated, sending a chill down everybody's spine. "After all, it is not every day that a cadet such as you can have a chance to witness something like that; especially the part where I go insane, as you so put it."

Freezing in there tracks just a few steps away from the exit of the store, everybody turned on the spot to see where they had heard the voice. Hidden behind one of the aisles was the tail end of a black trench coat and a few strands of silver hair. Only one person they knew in this entire building could have that kind of combination.

"…End of the highway," Rude muttered very quietly before casually turning off his phone and putting it into his pocket. He then directed his full attention at the sight, which had disappeared moments later and was replaced by the owner himself. "So you finally found us, have you Sephiroth?"

"Oh, yes I have," the General said as he appeared in full form in front of them all, an evil grin pasted on his face and making the evil aura around him even more menacing. "You did a good job in tricking me into thinking that you had gotten off on the 15th floor, cadet. Unfortunately, I have now found you and you all have nowhere else to run now. I shall now take from you what is rightfully mine and do away with you all once and for all."


	33. Escaping From the Tenacious General

**Chapter 32: Escaping From the Tenacious General**

"Oh boy," Zack sighed out worriedly as looked at the man whom they were trying so hard to avoid after their last battle with him. "I've noticed a very annoying pattern here. Why is it that we always manage to run into you when or right before we're about to do something important?"

"I suppose you can say that it is a curse of sorts Zackary," Sephiroth said with the smirk still fresh on his lips as he spoke. "Your luck must truly be terrible if you always end up meeting me at times that you want to simply miss me. Anyway, I could care less as to why that is always the case with us in here. What is important to me is that I have finally found that cadet with my detonator in his hands; and I also find the rest of you with him as a sort of a bonus. Now, how about you hand me back what is rightfully mine? You have all already caused me so much trouble; it is only fair that you were to make this easy for me."

"So you just want us to go ahead and give you this stupid piece of crap metal that will destroy this city once you use it?" Reno asked as he took the black detonator from Rude's hands and waved it around in front of him as if to emphasize the item in question. "Do you honestly think that we'd do something as stupid as that? We're not a group of people who are in the dark about you, you know? We know exactly what it is that you're planning to do once you get your hands on this damn thing. After all, Tseng was with you when you decided to spill your guts on what you had planned for the planet; or did you already forget about that little confession of yours?"

"Of course I remember that, Reno," the General stated in an unchanging tone. "Although, I would not have gone on calling it a confession, per se; it was more like passing on an insightful message to you all. I just wanted to give you all one more chance at prolonging your lives. I am sure that you all know that this fight you are fighting cannot and will not end in your favor."

"So you would rather that we would give you the contraption without any trouble from us?" the young SOLDIER asked with a small roll of his eyes. "I'm sure you already know by now that we're not going to be doing something like that. Unlike you, we don't want to have the world be destroyed, in case the message hasn't made itself apparent to you the last couple of times we met tonight."

"Besides," Angeal added as he stepped up closer to the man and away from the group, "you did say something along the lines last time we saw each other that you were going to kill us the next time we ran into each other. Unless you've undergone some kind of personality change, you're not the type of person who would so easily forget what he said, especially when it's a threat to somebody's life."

"Oh, I was hoping that you would have forgotten about that part of me," the silver haired man replied sarcastically. "Then again, I was also half-expecting you to remember it. After all, you were my very good friend until tonight when my plans made its way into your mind. It is only natural that you would know all of my habits, which also includes this one unfortunately.

"Anyway, that is enough chitchat. It is time that I got back to the matter at hand here: namely, the damned detonator that you all refuse to hand back to me. Although it may hold true that you would be dead whether or not you decide to give it to me peacefully, I would rather that you did it that way. It would save me a lot of trouble in the long run and I would be able to initiate my plans sooner."

"And since when have you known us to make things like this easy on you ever since we figured out what you plan to do?" Cloud asked with a half-smirk that he no doubt inherited from Zack's influence. "I'm sure you already know how we're going to go along with this."

"You're going to have to fight us if you really want that piece of metal in your hands," Adeus added as he readied his sword for the battle that was bound to take place very soon. "We're not going to just let you have it without a fight. The fate of the planet practically rests on our shoulders."

"The fate of the planet has always been to die out, whether it is to happen now or centuries after our time has passed," the General stated in a somewhat random and cryptic fashion. "What you are doing now is nothing more than to just prolong what the wheels of destiny have already set into motion. It has already been foretold of and written by some of the oldest residents of Cosmo Canyon.

"However, I plan to erase those very words they have made onto history and rewrite it in my own words," he continued on in the same cryptic fashion. "I plan to do so by making myself become one with the Lifestream and infecting it with Professor Hojo's creation. It is through this action that I plan to take over the planet, as you have no doubt already heard me say. Through a process that the good professor dubbed as 'self-selection', I would have the ability to choose which souls who are to be reborn into the world are worth letting go. If they are not, then I will infect the soul before letting them be reborn, for the reincarnation process cannot be stopped. That way, I will be able to keep the planet under my rule and control everything so as to prevent it from being destroyed by all of us."

"…You know what Sephiroth? You are absolutely the most demented and disturbed person I have ever met in my entire life," Zack stated with a forced chuckle as he, too, got his sword ready. "And the scary thing about all this is that I actually believe you when you say that you're going to try and control the entire planet through the Lifestream. If I believe that's something that you're going to make happen and cause the world to become the Hell that we see in here right now, then it's my job to stop you from doing so at all costs, with the help of my friends here, of course. And if that also means that we have to fight you again in order to keep you from achieving your plans, then that's exactly what we're going to do."

"…I see that you are all adamantly standing firm on this," the silver haired man sighed out with a small shake of his head. "Very well then; I guess I am forced to play along with this little game of yours. Mind you, though, that it will be me who will emerge victorious with the detonator in my hands, not you."

"…Provided that you can even retrieve it from us," Rude said as he saw Reno pocket the device from the corner of his eye. "If memory serves me right, we provided you with enough distraction that prevented you from concentrating on finding the contraption back on the 67th floor lab. If we can prevent you from retrieving it then, then we can definitely do so now."

"Yeah, what he said!" the red head exclaimed excitedly as he waved his EMR around wildly. "We are definitely not going to give this small thing up without a fight. As long as we're still standing, there's no way that you're going to get your hands on it. Isn't that right, Cissnei?"

For a couple of seconds, there was relative silence in the area. Noting that the answer was taking a while to be voiced, the Turk turned around to see what the woman was up to. Upon doing so, he saw the reason why she did not answer him; she was no longer with them! She had disappeared sometime during this whole exchange of words without anybody noticing.

"Wh-what the? Where'd she run off to?" he exclaimed in shock as he started to frantically look around for her; the rest of the group followed suit. "I swear, she was standing right here a couple of minutes ago!"

"And who is this person that you are all so desperately looking for?" Sephiroth asked with an amused look on his face as he saw everybody looking around in, for a lack of a better way to describe it, a panicked frenzy. "Are you looking for an imaginary comrade or something along those lines? I feel that must be the case here," he continued on as he ignored the angry glare he received from Zack, "because you four were the only ones I happened upon when I snuck up on you. I saw nobody else with you, nor did I see anybody leave during our pleasant little discussion. It was just you five and me in here the whole entire time."

"You're not serious about that, are you?" the young SOLDIER exclaimed loudly, clearly upset at the fact that the female Turk had just up and left while they were busy confronting the General.

"Unfortunately for you, I am _deadly _serious about it," the man with added emphasis. "I do not know where this girl of yours is nor do I know what it is that she is planning. All I know is that you are all right here in front of me, with one of you holding onto the detonator, and I could care less about what one person is doing wandering around alone on a zombie-infested floor."

"Well, that's a nice recap of things from your point of view, General," Cloud said, his words dipped heavily with sarcasm as he gave up trying to look for Cissnei. "That was really what we needed right now. Thank you very much."

"Cloud, now's not the time for that," Adeus half-pleaded with the blond as he reverted his concentration back onto the General. "We're already in enough serious trouble right now, and we don't really need to add your sarcasm into the mix, however well-timed it may have been."

"…We seem to have the worst luck today, always managing to find ourselves out of one big problem and into another," Rude speculated as he gave out a tired sigh. "Tonight is definitely one of the most hectic nights I've ever witnessed in my entire career as a Turk."

"And I suspect that these problems aren't going to be stopping any time soon," Angeal added rather bluntly. "With that said, you're bound to see even more hectic activity before the night is over."

"That is assuming that you all live to see the end of the night tonight," the silver haired man restated with a cockily raised eyebrow. "Do not forget that you also have to survive in battle against me once more before any of you would have the privilege of even seeing the light of day tomorrow."

"And I'm supposing that you're going to do everything that you can to keep us from surviving that long, right?" the older SOLDIER asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"Like he's ever going to be able to get that far," Reno replied cockily. "He already had a hard time facing the four of us back up at the lab. Now that we have another able-bodied person fighting with us, it just makes it even harder on him."

"Cocky as ever, are we not Reno? No matter, it is only a matter of time before I will have the privilege of wiping that smirk off of your face. I suggest that you prepare yourself for what is to come now."

Before anyone was able to say or do anything, a loud noise was heard coming from just outside of the store. It definitely was not coming from any of the monsters outside; it was too deep and choppy in sound for that to be possible. This caught the full attention of everybody, including Sephiroth himself, who looked towards the exit and temporarily ignored the group in front of him.

In the next second, a sea blue object suddenly came into their view just behind the automatic glass doors. Once it stopped and everybody had worn off the shock of seeing something like that so suddenly appear in their line of sight, the doors opened and they noticed that the object was actually a truck; and they also noted that it was making the same loud choppy noise that they heard a few moments ago. What was even more surprising was the person who was behind the wheel of the truck. It was Cissnei, the person whom they were all looking for a couple of minutes ago.

"Cissnei!" Reno exclaimed as he looked at the driver of the vehicle in both shock and surprise. "Where in the name of Gaia did you run off to girl? You had us all worried about you!"

"I would think that the answer to that would be obvious," the woman replied hastily as she motioned for all of them to hurry up and climb in. "Just hurry up and climb on in!"

"…It looks as though it's time that we made our way out of here," Rude stated as he quickly climbed into the passenger side of the truck. With a very quick glance at the back, he added, "Do you really think that this truck will be able to carry all of us out of this building?"

"Hey, I just took whatever I could get my hands on down there," she explained as everybody started to pile onto the back of the truck; Angeal stayed behind for a while in order to distract Sephiroth. "I wasn't exactly in a great position to be picky about things, you know?"

"You could have at least taken one of the bigger cars they had in there," the red head stated as he poked his head from a window that separated the open cargo area from the driver cab.

"Just forget about it Reno! Hurry up and get on, you two!" Zack exclaimed as he saw Cloud get on and help Adeus up from there. "We need to get out of here now while we still have the chance!"

"And what about you Zack?" the blond asked when he noticed that the young SOLDIER was not immediately climbing aboard the truck with them. "Why aren't you getting on?"

"There's only enough room for one more person to get on," he quickly explained as he started to make his way towards a set of stairs that would lead him to the lower floors. "I'll save that spot for Angeal. I'm going to go and get myself another vehicle from downstairs. Just go on without me; I'll catch up!"

"H-hold on a moment Zack!" Cloud stuttered out as he quickly jumped off the truck and ran after his best friend. "You can't go down there by yourself and hope to get another vehicle. You're not going to survive one minute with all those things down there! That's pure suicide!"

"Cloud, I promise I'll…" the young SOLDIER started to say before he saw the blond cadet appear right next to his side, a determined look on his face that said he was not going to change his mind on this, no matter how long they argued over it. Knowing that he was beaten on this and in a big rush, he let a deep, short sigh escape from his lips before gripping his sword tighter.

"Oh fine, just make sure to stay close to me the entire time!" he instructed as the two teens started making a mad dash towards the stairs, avoiding the zombies that were roaming towards their direction and blocking their way. "Don't go wandering off and get yourself surrounded by those damn things down there. The last thing I need now is for you to do dying on me down there. I'm telling you now; if anything happens to you down there, it's going to be your fault for following me."

While all this craziness was happening, Angeal was busy crossing blades with Sephiroth once again. This time, his goal was to provide enough distraction so that the others would have enough time to get themselves prepared on the truck. And that was exactly what he was doing, barring the exit of the store while trying to fend against the attacks being delivered upon him.

"This is all but a worthless effort on your part, you know?" the General asked as he continued to deliver his strikes upon the older SOLDIER, who did his best to block every one efficiently. "Things will only become worse and harder if you continue to resist me like this."

"I assume that you're merely talking about yourself when you say that, right?" the man asked as he blocked another attack aimed at his head. He dared not commit to an offensive because he was merely providing a distraction, and he needed to conserve his strength to keep up with the endless attacks being aimed at him. "It's a worthless effort to you, and it only makes what you want to do harder down the road. That would be worse for you and good for us."

"That is really an interesting way to view things, Angeal," the silver haired man said as he momentarily stopped his attacks and seemed to be staring at something of interest behind the SOLDIER. "However, is it really so good for you if two members of your group happen to be running in a direction opposite from the truck you are all trying to board?"

"What?" he exclaimed loudly as he turned around to confirm whether or not what the man was saying was true. Just as the General had said, he saw Zack and Cloud running away from the parked truck and towards the stairs that would lead them down to the lower floors. "What do those two senseless pups think they're doing? Are they insane or something?"

Before he knew what was happening next, he felt a small searing pain make itself known in his rib area. He was then sent flying right towards the doors, crashing into it and shattering it since it could not open fast enough. When he landed just a couple of feet past the now shattered door, a few pieces of glass continued to follow him from the front, forcing him to land on the broken pieces and piercing his skin.

"I thought you were someone who never turned his back on the enemy, no matter what they said Angeal," Sephiroth said in a chiding tone as he saw his former friend struggling through the pain to get up. A few droplets of crimson blood fell onto the ground from his body where both the long sword had made contact with the flesh and the open wounds created from the glass.

"Well, there's always got to be a first for everything, right?" the older SOLDIER asked through clenched teeth as he pulled out the glass that still stuck to his body with a hiss. "Unfortunately, that was my mistake that proved painful; a mistake that I won't soon make again."

With that said he immediately whipped out his Thundara Materia and summoned a huge bolt of electricity right in front of him. He then allowed it to move forward at a fast pace towards the General, who was momentarily caught off-guard by the man's sudden transition to magic. It did little to faze him, though, as he simply brought his blade up and slashed down the center of the bolt vertically, causing it to split into two and travel into different directions, passing harmlessly by him.

Without being given much time to recover from the defensive move, he was now surrounded by a bunch of smaller bolts closing in on him from all sides. It was like he was trapped in a small cage that was progressively growing smaller by the minute. Even the top of the electric cage was well guarded by a threatening bolt that was waiting for its chance to strike.

"Hmm, a trick that only you would have been able to execute well, Angeal," Sephiroth mused as he saw the older SOLDIER make his way towards the waiting truck "A ruse that would keep me from moving long enough for you to escape. Even now, I fail to realize how to escape this prison without suffering harm upon myself. No matter; you may have been able to escape by using this ruse. However, that does not mean that I will not leave here without a kill on my hands. After all, Zackary and the cadet are still in here, waiting for me to come and kill them."

"You won't kill them that easily, Sephiroth," Angeal shot back as truck revved loudly and was about to take off. "They're one of the best people that the Shinra Army has ever seen after you. They might even surpass you once they get the chance."

"And I will truly love to see that day come," the General said as the truck sped off towards a window opposite of the store and crashed right through it with a spectacular shower of glass falling in its wake. "Unfortunately, that will be a day that I cannot see because they will be dead by the time it comes around."

With those last words uttered from his mouth, he lifted his sword above his head and swung it all around him, striking down each bolt of lightning surrounding him as if they were merely suspension cables. In doing so, the severed bolts connected with his blade and began to course down to his arm one by one. As each one made contact with his arm, he received a small jolt that hardly caused any damage to him. However, that small damage multiplied by ten or so bolts of lightning added up, and he could not help but shiver a bit at the electricity coursing through his body once he was done.

"Now, it is time for me to make my way downstairs and to where those two boys are," he muttered under his breath as he shook off the last bits of electricity still coursing though his system. "It is time that I put an end to their little game of hero and villain once and for all."


	34. Zack's and Cloud's Modified Escape Plan

**Chapter 33: Zack's and Cloud's Modified Escape Plan  
**

"I'm telling you now; if anything happens to you while we're down there, it's going to be your fault for wanting to come with me," Zack warned Cloud rather sternly, something that did not fit the young SOLDIER at all, as they were nearing the stairs that would take them down. "I don't have any responsibility for you from here on out starting now. Everything's all on you here."

"You don't need to go stating the obvious to me, Zack," Cloud replied with a small sigh and a quick roll of his eyes as he stole a glance back at where the truck was still parked at. "I know what I'm doing is more than your standard crazy and life-threatening risky. If it makes you feel any better, that's not what I'm worried about right now anyway. What I'm more worried about is what Angeal would think once he realizes that we're not getting away on the truck."

"He'd probably be thinking that we're a couple of insane puppies once he notices we're gone and they tell him what we're up to," the young SOLDIER stated as they started to run down the stairs, careful to not skip a step and go rolling down in the process. "I've been around him long enough to know a bit on how his mind works at times like this."

"Well, I hope he recognizes your generosity and takes the last spot on the damn truck in your place," the blond stated as they made contact with the 2nd floor. "I hope he doesn't end up killing me for being concerned about you and following you all the way down here."

"Trust me; he won't start hating you for that. If anything else, he'd probably thank you for that once all this is over and done with for covering my sorry puppy back, as he would probably put it. Anyway, you better watch it; there are a lot of zombies coming up from the bottom floor."

Just as he said, a huge line of zombies were climbing up from the stairs that connected the 2nd floor with the 1st. Even though there were two sets on either side of the floor, they were both completely flooded with the creatures, thus blocking the only way down to where the two teens needed to get to. It was also at that moment that they heard a loud shattering sound coming from the 3rd floor.

"Sounds like those guys already crashed on out of here," Zack stated, not meaning to make a pun out of it, as he frantically looked around for another way down. "Now we're probably the only ones left alive in this dead building, unless you want to go ahead and count the crazy General in here with us."

"No, I'm not counting him as one of the people left alive in here," Cloud replied as he took a swing at a zombie that dared to come near him, arms outstretched and bloody teeth bared and ready for a bite. "We better hurry and get down before we're surrounded here. Do you have any ideas?"

"Just one," he answered rather hesitantly as he allowed his gaze to momentarily rest on the clearing between the two streams of zombies that were quickly piling on either side of them. "We jump down from here and onto the 1st floor. Then we make a break for it to the automobile exhibit room."

"…You know, if I weren't so desperate to try and find a way to get out of this mess right now, I would say that your plan is absolutely crazy," the cadet answered as he cut down a couple more creatures, Zack now doing the same on his side of the room. "When do we go?"

"I was thinking along the lines of…now!" the SOLDIER shouted as he suddenly took off for the railing, leaving a momentarily stunned Cloud behind. It took only a moment, though, for him to recover and join his best friend down the small clearing that was slowly closing up by the second.

"Give me more warning next time, you crazy puppy of a SOLDIER!" Cloud shouted angrily as he saw his mentor jump over the guard railing down to the last floor and he followed suit. With a small grunt upon landing perfectly on his feet, he added, "You know that I'm not as good as you yet to be acting on sudden cues from you just like that!"

"Yet you dealt with it pretty well," Zack stated as he stood straight up and saw that they had managed to land in a small opening where the zombies were not as dense. "That's not bad reaction time for a cadet like you. Then again, you and Adeus aren't like the other cadets here, are you? That's why I did what I did up there; I knew that you would be able to react quickly enough to it."

"Whatever," the blond answered as he simply shrugged the whole thing off. "Just make sure that don't end up trying to leave me all alone to die in here. Let's just hurry up and find a way out of here before we become zombie chow or target practice for the General."

"I'm with you there," the young SOLDIER agreed as he swung his sword in front of him and took out a few zombies that were quickly closing in on them. "This floor is way too crowded to be staying in for too long. Reno and Rude were right about here being so dense with these things."

For the next thirty or so seconds, the two teens were striking down zombies and squeezing through small gaps within the poorly constructed formation. Zack led the way the whole time, for he knew where the Shinra exhibit room was located throughout this entire rotten and decaying mess. He swung his sword wildly, yet accurately, to get as many of the dead creatures away from them as possible as they continued to make their way to their destination.

Once they finally reached the exhibit room, they noticed that one of the show windows was shattered and a few zombies were run over and flattened. Naturally, they both assumed that this had happened when Cissnei was down here trying to get the truck up to them. They were not too far off on their guess, for tire marks on the metal floor leading away from the window confirmed their thoughts.

Using the opening to their advantage, Zack and Cloud climbed through it and entered the exhibit room. The main entrance was a few seconds away, but they did not want to go fighting any more zombies. They wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. After all, the zombies and blade creatures were not the only threat to their lives at this moment; the General was also a couple floors above them and might have been right on their tail right now.

When they took a quick glance around the room, they saw that it was definitely filled with lots of vehicles. All of them were parked on either a slightly raised pedestal or a ramp, each with a sign next to it stating the model name and price. They also came in a variety of colors, from pure white all the way to the darkest of blacks and everything in between. Some of them were four-wheeled cars built for speed; others were three-wheeled trucks meant for transporting goods and such.

"And which vehicle are you thinking that we should hijack, Zack?" the blond asked slightly playfully as he quickly looked over each vehicle. "We can't really be standing around here forever trying to decide which one's the sleekest and most stylish, you know?"

"Now's not the time to be fooling around, Cloud," the young SOLDIER replied in an annoyed tone. "That's not even what I'm thinking about right now. I'm thinking more along the lines of finding something small that would fit just the two of us. We don't need to ride in a damn big car just to get out of here. It'll just end up slowing us down in the long run."

After another second of searching, Zack seemed to have found what he was looking for. With a big grin making its way onto his face, he quickly ran towards something; Cloud could not see what it was because of his position behind the happy teen causing him to only have a view of his back. His smirk looked more like a kid who had just got what he always wanted for Christmas than that of a person who had just found their way out of here.

"I'm thinking something along the lines of this bad boy will do," he stated happily as he stopped right next to a motorcycle as black as his hair with silver the color of his sword and placed a gentle hand on one of the black handle bars. Gripping it tightly, he said, "The newest motorcycle model vehicle that Shinra has created up to date; and it's probably the last judging by the look of things here. They call it the Fenrir motorcycle, rumored to be able to outmatch even the fastest car they have here in any race and easily maneuverable between gaps and tight corners."

"Just hurry up and start the damn thing already!" Cloud exclaimed as he shifted his gaze between his best friend and the shattered entrance to the exhibit room. "We're in the middle of a zombie-infested floor, in case you have forgotten already. You don't need to go on with your details about it!"

"Well, I need the keys to this damn thing before we'd be able to get anywhere with it," Zack explained as he gave off a small sigh of frustration at being cut off like that. "They usually keep them behind the cashier counter. You hurry up and get it while I get the restraints off of it."

"And how the Hell am I supposed to figure out which one of these keys belongs to that right off the bat?" the blond asked in a rather frustrated tone, more so over the situation they were in than having to find the motorcycle key on his own. "There has to be at least a dozen or so of those things behind the counter. We don't have time to be picking at them one by one and testing them out."

"They probably have them sorted out by either name or model number," the young SOLDIER explained as he picked up one of the chains that were wrapped around the motorcycle's wheels and examined it. "I'm sure they're not that stupid to just hang them up randomly so they can forget which is which later on. Just get over there and you can tell me how they sorted them."

Without wasting another second, Zack placed the chain back onto the floor and began to hack away at it with his sword, causing sparks to fly every time the blade struck the metal.. He kept at it until the links separated and he was able to unwind the severed metal from the wheel and the latch it was connected to on the pedestal. He then quickly picked up another one and restarted the process all over again.

In the meantime, Cloud ran towards the front desk and hopped over it. From there, he searched in the space underneath the desk and saw a whole bunch of keys hanging on nails. They each had a code of sorts written on a piece of tape and stuck above each nail. Confused, he let out a sigh of frustration and poked his head over the desk to look at his friend.

"What's the code number on that motorcycle?" he asked just as he saw the young SOLDIER break a couple of the chains with his sword. "All these keys back here are organized by code."

"Are they three-character codes?" Zack asked as he started to work on the third chain that surrounded the front wheel. "There are a whole bunch of things here and I don't know which one's which until you tell me."

"…Yeah, they are," the blond replied as he momentarily ducked back down to check the code on the pieces of tape. "Two letters followed by a number with a dash separating them.

"That's what I had figured," the raven haired teen said as he stole a quick glance at the sign next to the pedestal before continuing with his work on destroying the chain. "Look for the key that's labeled 'LK-9' on it. That should be the one we need in order to get this thing running."

With the code now ingrained into his mind, Cloud went back to searching for the motorcycle key. At the same time, he heard the sound of the chain breaking and falling to the floor with a broken rattle.

"Well, things are done on my end now. How about you, Cloud? Did you find the key yet?"

"Not yet. Wait a minute, scratch that. I got it!"

With a triumphant smile on his face, the blond cadet stood up from behind the desk and dangled a key ring with a plain silver key on it in his hands. He then hopped over the desk and ran towards Zack, throwing the key in his direction at the same time he did so.

"I knew I'd be able to count on you buddy!" the SOLDIER exclaimed happily as he caught the keychain in the air. "These chains aren't going to be stopping us anymore. Let's hurry up and get out of here before we're trapped by Sephiroth again."

Without wasting any time, Zack quickly got onto the seat of the motorcycle and jammed the key into the ignition. With a quick small twist of his wrist, he started the engines and Fenrir roared to life.

"Oh, yeah! Step one to getting out of here, done! Now all you have to do is get on and let me drive us on out of here."

"Uh, I never ridden on a motorcycle before, Zack," Cloud shouted over the roar of the engine rather hesitantly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, another small trait he picked up from training with the teen.

"Oh, for the love of…!" the SOLDIER growled out under his breath before calming down a bit. He then instructed over the sound of the engine, "Just sit the same way I am in the extra space behind me and make sure you hold on tightly to me. It's as simple as that. Now hurry up and get on before we both end up becoming either zombie chow or target practice."

With another small sigh of uneasiness, the blond swallowed down his hesitancy and climbed onto the motorcycle as instructed. Zack then revved the engines by twisting his hands on the handle bars, causing the teen behind him to tightly hug his back out of fright. With a small smirk, he kicked off the bike stand and momentarily replaced it with his foot, that being the only thing keeping it upright.

"Get yourself ready for the ride of your life, Cloud," the raven haired teen shouted as he shifted the motorcycle into gear, lifted his foot from the ground, and allowed the bike's forward momentum to propel them forward. They were now beginning to follow the rest of the group onto the freeway, their only way out of the death that has embodied the entire building and to the land of the living where safety was assured to them.


	35. Time to Finally Escape This Hell

**Chapter 34: Time to Finally Escape This Hell**

"Are you sure that you know how to properly drive this motorcycle Zack?" Cloud asked hesitantly just as they were about to exit through the broken show window, rolling harmlessly over the various broken pieces of glass that still littered the cold, tire-marked floor. "You never said anything to me about you ever riding on a motorcycle before whenever we were alone on our free time."

"Well, then consider that as one of the few things that you don't know about me," Zack replied as they zoomed out into the main reception area and momentarily stopped to assess his next course of action. "It's just one of my hidden talents that people don't know about. Once this is all over, maybe I can give you a few pointers on how to drive one of these things. I know you'll like it.

"Anyway, we better start getting ourselves out of this damn excuse of a Hellhole before things start to get worse in here for us," he continued on as he looked at the zombie horde standing in front of them. "Do you want me to drive through these creatures from Hell itself, or do you prefer that we slowly hack our way through until we make it to the 3rd floor?"

"And why are you asking me about that?" the blond asked as he kicked at one of the zombies wandering towards them; he still felt a little hesitant on the motorcycle to even let one of his arms go from Zack's body. "You're the driver here. You go ahead and commit to what you think will get us out of here safely."

"Alright, then we're busting through! Make sure you hold on to me tightly; the road's bound to get a little bumpy from here on out. I'd hate for you to be jostled off of this thing and left to fend for yourself until I can get to you. That and I really like the long-term friendly hug you'll be giving me."

With a roll of his eyes at the comment, Cloud purposely tightened his grip on Zack's middle, causing him slight discomfort. He simply ignored the gesture and lurched forward with the motorcycle, heading towards the set of stairs that held the least amount of resistance. Just as they were about to begin their bumpy ascent, though, they heard a voice call out to them from the other set of stairs.

"And just where do you think you're going?" a familiar stoic voice asked. Already knowing who it was, the young SOLDIER did not bother to steal a glance and just kept his mind concentrated on riding up the stairs and dodging the zombies at the same time. "Are you really planning on escaping here just like the others before you did? I am afraid that I cannot let that happen."

Before any of them could tell what was happening, they saw a zombie come flying towards them. To avoid it, Zack swerved around it while trying to dodge another one in his direct path. This almost caused the two teens to fall off of the bike and go crashing down, but he managed to put his foot down on the stairs and steady the bike. This left them wide open to another zombie projectile thrown by Sephiroth.

Zack was more than ready for it this time around, though. He swatted the body away with his sword that he had taken off from his back as if it were but an annoying fly, causing it to veer off target and safely crashing into the stair railing behind them. Cloud had also readied his blade and started to take care of the ones that were quickly gaining ground on them because of their stationary position. They both conducted their respective business while still staying seated on the motorcycle, one arm either gripping the handlebar or a SOLDIER's chest while the other swung the blade.

After a few seconds of striking down the flying zombies, the young SOLDIER growled out in frustration. "Oh, we don't have time for this!" he stated through clenched teeth as he let go of the handlebar and took out his Blizzara Materia. "It's time that I sent something back at him. Try this on for size Sephiroth!"

After quickly summoning a big chunk of ice above him, he motioned with his hand the direction he wanted it to go flying. It then went soaring across the gap between the two sets of stairs and towards the General, who was busy picking up an already dead zombie and was in the process of throwing it at them. Surprised at the movement, he quickly placed the body in front of him and used it as a shield against the big ice boulder. Upon impact, a big blue cloud of chilly ice dust surrounded the man and the body was completely destroyed by the impact of the ice.

"You are going to have to do better than that if you want to stop me, Zackary," the silver haired man chided as he hacked away at a couple of zombies that managed to stumble through the ice dust and towards him. "You should know that I can easily defend against anything that you throw at me. You are not even posing much of a resistance against me."

Just then, he felt a sudden burst of warm air emanating from somewhere within or just outside of the cold bluish dust cloud. Being that it was still pretty thick, he could not properly distinguish where the sudden heat surge was coming from. He was, however, able to sense that a zombie was slowly approaching him, and he readied for another strike against the undead. He had allowed himself to forget about the sudden heat wave and concentrate solely on the threat slowly approaching him. This proved to be not the greatest of choices he had strategically made.

In that one small moment the he had decided to forget all about the suspicious heat wave that was developing and turned his full attention on the zombie closing in on him laid his error. Because he made an uncharacteristically non-strategic move in doing so, he was forced to pay for his mistake by feeling his back suddenly heat up to an extravagant temperature. Yelling in both surprise and pain, the General fell to his knees and tightly grasped the hilt of his Masamune so hard that his knuckles whitened. Through the pain, he managed to procure a quick swipe in front of him, causing the monster that had caused him to carelessly take up all his attention to fall forward and to the ground just a few inches away from him.

"Nice one, Cloud!" Zack shouted as the two heard the satisfying sound of Sephiroth being injured by the Fira spell Cloud had procured. "I didn't think that you'd actually be able to hit him in that ice cloud."

"It must have been a lucky hit on my part," the blond stated with a small shrug as he pocketed the Materia that was in his hands. "A _very_ lucky hit, if you want to get all technical about it. Why didn't the General dodge it? I'm sure he would've been able to, despite having that dust completely surrounding him."

"Who cares whether it was luck or not Cloud?" the SOLDIER simply shrugged off as he restarted the engine, which had died down sometime during the small skirmish and revved up the engine; Cloud was starting to wonder if the constant revving was good for the poor motorcycle. "As long as he's out of commission for even a second, that's good enough for me. Now let's hurry and get out of here before old silver hair recovers and tries to stop us from leaving again."

With that said, Zack got the vehicle moving again and they rode up the last couple feet of stairs they had left. The moment they made it to the 2nd floor, though, they were met with another rather unpleasant surprise. The General had caught up with them and was now on the same floor with them. The SOLDIER slammed on the brakes once again and stopped the motorcycle at a sideways angle.

"Did you honestly think that you would be able to give me the slip with such a weak attack?" he asked, his blade drawn and poised for a strike. "If that is so, then I am afraid that you have been sorely mistaken. You should know by now that I am not a man who is easily taken down by something as weak as that."

"Is that why you allowed yourself to be hit by Cloud's Fira spell?" the raven haired teen asked as he shifted the gear to park and turned off the ignition so as to not waste however much gas that had come with it; he did not bother to check the gas meter before he decided to take it, so he wanted to play it safe for now. "Is it because you knew that you couldn't be taken down by the magic that you allowed yourself to be hit by it instead of dodging it?"

"I will admit that it was my mistake on my part for allowing myself to be hit by such a predictable attack," the General admitted as he shifted around a bit, feeling a bit uncomfortable from where he was burned. "However, there was a more pressing matter that I had to attend, and I allowed myself to forget about what might have been coming at your end. Rest assured, though, that that would be something that will not be repeated in the near future."

"Whatever; just hurry up and get out of our way so we can get out of here before we end up becoming zombie chow in here. We don't have time to be just sitting around and talking with you here, unless you have a death wish for the both of us or something like that."

"Oh, I believe you are wrong when you say that, Zackary. You see, it is not me who has the death wish; rather, it is the two of you who is seeking out death. After all, who is it now that is about to be ambushed by zombies due to their lack of attention to their surroundings?"

"Wh-what?" both teens exclaimed as they both turned on the spot and looked behind them. Sure enough, there were quite a few zombies sneaking up on them, teeth bared and everything, and were just a few inches away from taking a chunk out of them. "Damn, it's time we made our way out of here!"

After quickly reigniting the engine and shifting the gear on the motorcycle back to drive, he allowed the vehicle to lurch forward and towards another set of stairs that would take them to the 3rd floor and away from the zombies and the General. The silver haired man, however, had another idea in mind and threw another dead zombie body in front of the vehicle's path, causing the raven haired teen to suddenly swerve away as a reaction and miss the stairs. He once again stopped so he could regain his senses and control before he ended up crashing them right into the wall or go plummeting off the 2nd floor railing and die.

"Just what the Hell's your problem here, Sephiroth?" Zack exclaimed angrily as his temper was now starting to get the better of him, this time not bothering to turn off the engine. "If you want to die in here, then go ahead and do it already! Just don't go about dragging us down with you while you're at it!"

"Are you really that intent on not letting us escape this building, General?" Cloud asked as he nervously looked around him and saw a couple of zombies heading towards them with a ravenous look in their dead, dull eyes. "The others have already left before us. I find that it makes more sense that you go after them out there instead of us in here. Why are you only concentrating on us right now?"

"That is because you two are the greatest threat to my plans," Sephiroth explained calmly as he skewered three zombies at once and allowed them to fall backwards off his blade one by one as he pulled away. "The others that have left have already reached their prime in terms of battle skills. You two, on the other hand, are still quite young. You still have the ability to effectively learn whatever it is that is needed of you in order to survive this ordeal and potentially stop me from achieving my goals. Do not get me wrong; I have not completely forgotten about Angeal and the others. I will take care of them in due time. It is you two who must take first priority in terms of who to kill off first. I am so sorry that it has to be that way; but alas, it must be so."

"You don't ever shut up about your plans, do you?" the raven haired teen asked as he slashed at a nearby zombie. "To be perfectly honest with you, it's starting to get really annoying now. That and the whole killing us business is really not exciting anymore, if you get what I'm saying here."

"Of course, you're probably just going to ignore us and continue to try and kill us," Cloud stated as he got off of the motorcycle with his sword at the ready, much to his mentor's surprise. "Then I guess the only thing left to do is to try and stop you right here and now!"

"Then I suppose that imposes upon us a new question here," the General stated with a small smirk tugging at the corners of his stoic lips. "Will the two of you be able to stop me before I go and kill the both of you? I guess that this is a question that is going to receive an answer very soon."

"Sooner than you'd like, I'll bet," the blond stated as he allowed his eyes to shift around in a mysterious fashion, slightly confusing the General from his idea. "And I don't think you'll like the answer you're about to get."

"A bold statement coming from one such as you," Sephiroth stated with an amused smirk gracing his lips. "I would be careful on how I state your words. Being too cocky at a time like this will be your undoing."

"I think you're talking about the wrong person here. If you want to talk about people being cocky and all that, then I would have to say that it's you. Trying to act all calm while all these things are happening around you is going to get you killed one of these days."

"And why are you so certain about that, cadet?"

"I'm certain because it's unnatural for normal people to act so nonchalantly about all the death that's happening around them. Oh, wait a minute; you're not even a normal person. After all, you were also a part of the cause that started this entire mess to unfold to begin with."

"Uh, I'd stop right now if I were you, Cloud," Zack whispered into the cadet's ear, leaning from his seat on the motorcycle in order to do so, with a concerned look on his face. "Sephiroth's known for going ballistic on people who likes to send his own comments back at him."

"Just drive right towards him and let me take care of the rest," he whispered back, earning him a confused look from the raven haired teen. "Trust me on this one; I know what I'm doing here. I have a plan."

"Alright," the SOLDIER replied, slightly taken aback at hearing the blond had a plan in mind before taking a deep breath to regain his composure. He then practically shouted out as if their whisperings never happened, "Look, I don't care about any of this crap. All I want to do is to get out of here with Cloud before I end up turning into one of those killers in here. That means that I'm going to blast right past you, whether you like it or not General!"

With that said he immediately kicked the motorcycle into gear and dashed right towards the silver haired man. The General, being a man who prided himself in being able to think ahead and read the moves of his opponents in battle, saw the move coming and simply dodged to the side. As he did so, he turned his body around so that he would be able to follow where the motorcycle was going, in case he was to be run over by the vehicle again.

This one small moment of distraction was all Cloud needed in order to initiate his plans. With it, he turned around and saw a zombie with a useless limp arm on its side staggering right towards him. He quickly got behind the monster and locked its good arm on its back so as to not be scratched by it flailing around. He then pushed it towards the General, whose eyes were still on Zack and the motorcycle, although he was starting to regain his focus on the cadet as well.

Because of the transition to different points of concentration, he was not as prepared to handle a zombie that was now literally stumbling towards him, thanks to the little push Cloud had given it. He did manage, though, to catch it with his hands before it had officially collided with him, thus causing him to divert his attention to wrestling the teeth-bared zombie off of him.

"Nice one, Cloud!" Zack complimented Cloud as he rode up next to him and stopped momentarily in order for him to mount the vehicle. "I didn't think that you'd be able to come up with a plan as crazy as that."

"Hey, a cadet like me has to grow up and move on from his rank at some point," Cloud stated as he positioned himself correctly just as he felt the motorcycle lurch forward and towards the last set of stairs they needed to climb. "I can't just stay being a dumb cadet who can't come up with plans on his own, you know? Besides, the crazy part of the plan most likely came from me hanging around with you a lot."

"Yeah, I kind of figured as much," the raven haired teen answered as they rode up the stairs and left the General to take down the zombie on his own. "It's just hard for me to see you starting to act more on your own and stealing some of my style. It really does my heart good to see you moving on."

"God, you're starting to sound like an old man, you know?" the blond said with an eye roll as he saw his best friend wipe away an imaginary tear. He then added in a teasing tone, "I think all this death and gory stress is starting to get to you."

"A-anyway," the SOLDIER said loudly in an attempt to change the topic, "let's just hurry up and get our butts out of here. We've kept the others waiting long enough. Angeal's probably starting to worry about us now."

"Alright, then stop talking and start driving already."

Without wasting another moment, Zack concentrated on the drive for the rest of the time. Once they reached the 3rd floor, he quickly scoped the area to see where the shattered window was. Once he found it, he pushed the pedal down as far as it would go and drove right for it. He could feel Cloud's grip on his stomach tightening up as he did so.

In a few seconds, they had passed through the window and flew all the way across to the highway with no problems. From there, they continued to drive in the same direction as the traffic was going, which had stopped when they suddenly came out of nowhere, and kept their eyes open for Angeal and the others.

Meanwhile, Sephiroth had just finished wrestling with the Zombie that was thrown in his direction when he heard the sound of the motorcycle's engine fade away. He knew then that the two teens had managed to escape the building.

"So they manage to escape my grasps once again," he said with an agitated grumble as he sliced down the creature and the others around him. "This is truly starting to become tiresome. I suppose it is time to use _that_."

With that, he reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled something out of it. It was a small metal case. He quickly opened it and took out a syringe that was full of some sort of sickly green liquid.

"I had hoped to use this a lot later," he said with a sigh as he examined the contents. "However, desperate times call for desperate measures."

He then stuck the needle into the exposed skin of his neck and injected whatever it was into his body. Once that was done, he dropped the needle on the floor and it shattered into smaller pieces.

"No more games from here on out, you guys," the General growled out as he stomped what little was left of the syringe into dust. "It is time that I really end this charade once and for all."


	36. To The Rendezvous Point

**Chapter 35: To The Rendezvous Point**

As Zack and Cloud made their way down the stretch of highway towards a destination neither of them were sure of, they noticed that the traffic was starting to become less dense the farther away they went from the Shinra building. They knew that it was still in the middle of the night and that not many cars would have been out on the road, but there was always more than this in this busy city. The raven haired teen was also pretty sure that word of the things happening in the building have not been leaked to the general public as of yet.

With that engraved in the teen's mind, he found that the current amount of traffic on the Midgar highway was quite unusual, whether it was an hour past midnight or not. The city was not known to be a place where everybody went to sleep at night. It was known as the city of endless opportunity; a place where you would be able to find a job, both good and bad, no matter what kind of skills you had or what hour of the day the job was to take place in.

"I've never seen so little cars driving on this highway before," Cloud speculated as he turned his head around to get a better view of his blurred surroundings. "I know how it usually looks since I have a good view of it from my dorm window up on the 45th floor. There's always more of them than there is tonight. I wonder why?"

"It sounds like somebody doesn't really get a good night's sleep these days," Zack teased the blond as he changed lanes and cut off a car, earning him an angry honk from the driver. "Do you have something on your mind that you care to share with me while we're riding along this quiet highway all by ourselves here?"

"No, not really," the cadet simply stated as he held onto the SOLDIER tightly when he made another sudden lane change. "I guess I was just feeling a bit homesick at the time. It was my first month here at the time, so I think it's normal that I had trouble getting some sleep then."

"Yeah, I suppose so," the raven haired teen agreed with him with a small nod of his head. "I had that same trouble myself when I just started out as a lowly grunt in the Shinra Army a couple of years ago. It's amazing how quickly the things that happened came and went when you actually take the time to look back on it. It's almost as if your entire life has flashed before your eyes.

"Anyway, what do you think about the whole mess we just ran away from back there?" he asked as he changed the subject around. "Do you think it's all going to be alright once we regroup with the guys at wherever the Hell it is they're at? Do you think that things with us will ever go back to normal?"

"Are you seriously asking me something stupid like that, Zack? I know just as much about this as you do here. I don't know if things are ever going to get back to normal with us after we get away from here, not after the things we've seen in the building doing what it is that they do which is killing nonstop and eat us humans as if we were nothing but animals. I doubt, though, that we'll be able to sleep well for a while after were through here."

"…Heh, I guess that was a pretty stupid question for me to be asking you," the raven haired teen replied with a forced chuckle brewing in the back of his throat. "Of course you wouldn't know if things will ever be back to normal after this. I guess…I was just trying to see if you felt the same way I was right now. I guess I was just trying to find some comfort here."

"And do you really feel the same way as me on all of this?" the blond asked after giving a small sigh and thinking about what his best friend had just said to him. "Are you just as confused about all this as I am right now?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess I'm… No, I know that I'm in the same mindset as you are on this. I'm just as confused about this as you are, but I know one thing is for certain: things are definitely not going to be back to normal after this; not with me anyway, and I'm sure not with you either."

For a couple of seconds, both teens said nothing more to each other. They were both seemingly contemplating on the things that where just discussed between them. They were both wondering whether they could continue on as if everything was normal, or keep the demons born from the night's events in their hearts, always to frighten them with the nightmares it came with.

Finally, with a loud sigh, Zack spoke up in a soft tone, a tone that was almost drowned out by the sound of Fenrir's engine. "Sorry for asking such a stupid question and stirring up some tension here Cloud," he apologized as he shifted his shoulders around a bit. "I was just trying to find some comfort in seeing whether or not you felt the same as I was now. Sorry."

"…There's no need for you to be apologizing to me Zack," Cloud answered with a small sigh as he softened the grip he had on the SOLDIER's chest, indicating to him that he was now just giving him a friendly, comforting hug. "I'm on the same boat as you are here. If you're saying sorry to me for no good reason, then I should be doing the same to you right now. That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense when you stop and think about it. Besides, it's not like you to be feeling sorry over something like this, especially over something that you can't control."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. Humph, what's the world coming to tonight?" the SOLDIER asked with a genuinely warm chuckle escaping from his lips this time around. "Am I really being given a motivational speech by a cadet who I'm supposed to be training and practically mothering right now? That's a real twist in our roles here, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true," the blond replied as he laughed along with his best friend. "It is kind of funny when you think about it. Then again, Adeus always said that I always manage to come up with something to say whenever people like you are feeling down and all that stuff."

"Did Adeus really say that about you? Funny, I never would have guessed that you were capable of being a person to come to for a pep talk when I first met you on our first official training day together. To be honest with you, I thought that you were going to be the spitting image of me when I first started out as a cadet here. I was totally energetic and overconfident in my skills. All that ended up in me having my confidence deflated dramatically by Angeal when he beat me down to the ground in my first training session with him."

"Uh, I don't think anybody could ever start out like you said you did," Cloud stated as he sniggered softly at Zack's little story. "After all, you are a one-of-a-kind SOLDIER and mentor. Nobody could ever hope to mimic you in any way possible, no matter how hard they try. Although, you can rub some of your behaviors off onto your students; me being living proof of that."

"Hey, it's not necessarily a bad thing," the raven haired teen replied as he felt the blonde's arms moving around a bit during his chuckles. "You still manage to keep your own attitude intact while trying to fuse some of mine's into it. It's not like I'm asking you to become an exact copy of me or anything like that. It just means that you have great respect for me and you want to try and follow in my footsteps. That's all I'm really saying here, and I'm proud of you for that."

"Well, I guess that's one good way of looking at it. It really sounds good when it's coming out from your own mouth. Anyway, are we anywhere close to wherever it is the guys stopped?" the cadet asked as he changed the subject around to something that pertained more to their current situation.

"I really have no idea about that, spiky. All I remember hearing Rude saying on the phone just before he hung it up was 'At the end of the freeway,' or something like that. It's too short to really make much sense of it, but I can take a guess at where they went from that. Care to guess with me on this?"

"What's there to guess on this Zack? It should be obvious as to where we're supposed to meet up. They're planning on meeting Tseng at the end of the freeway. They're probably thinking on having him pick us up from there and get out of here through his helicopter."

"And do you know where the end of the freeway is?" Zack asked sarcastically, already knowing what the answer was going to be. "If you do, then please tell me so you can make both of our lives a whole lot easier here."

"Uh, if I knew where it was, I would have told you about it by now," Cloud replied in an equally sarcastic tone. "I was actually kind of hoping that you would know where it is. After all, you did spend more time here in Midgar than I have. I was thinking that you would have had the lay of the land by now."

"Unfortunately, I have no idea on where to go from here," the young SOLDIER admitted as he ignored the sarcastic answer, knowing full well he was going to be responded in such a fashion since he asked in the same way. It was funny how they were able to throw sarcastic remarks to each other and manage to know that it was all only in good fun when he thought about it. Then again, he just assumed that that was what the best of friends naturally do, fool around with each other and just naturally knowing when it was all in good faith and when it was not.

"Uh, most of the missions that were assigned to me by Director Lazard have been concentrated primarily outside of the city walls," he continued on after a pause and clearing his throat to alleviate the slight awkwardness that followed it. "I hardly ever did any of the missions that were involved with the city itself; but whenever there was one assigned to me, I rarely had to use the freeway because they were all easily accessible and taken care of by foot. There was no need for me to be on this stretch of road then."

"…Well, that's good to know," the blond replied with a sigh as he shook his head. "So basically, after giving me this entire explanation that I don't really care about, what you're telling me in the end is that we're lost, right?"

"Hey, I never said anything like that to you!" the raven haired teen argued as they past an orange sign momentarily illuminated by the motorcycle's headlights that read, "Approaching construction zone. Veer towards left lane." "All I'm saying here is that I'm not sure where the end of the freeway is."

"Which is a better way of saying that you don't know where you're going, if you stop for a moment and think about it. It doesn't matter how you phrase it; the fact of the matter is that you have no idea where to go from here."

"Alright then, do you want to try your hand at driving on this highway?" Zack asked in a serious, yet annoyed, tone he started to slow the motorcycle down a bit and pull it towards the highway curb. "Just say the word if you want to. You know I'd be more than happy to trade places with you, if that's what you really want. After all, you sure sound like you can do a Hell of a lot better than I can here. So what do you say? You want to give it a shot?"

"Uh, no, no, no! I-I'm fine!" the cadet stuttered out hastily. "I-I don't even know how to drive a motorcycle in the first place. I'd probably end up getting us killed by the traffic here before we can even find what looks to be the end of this freeway. I think it's better if you stayed behind the wheel."

"Then shut up and let me drive in peace here. I admit that I may not know much about this freeway, but I can at least drive on it better than you can right now. If you want to help me, then do so by keeping your eyes open for any signs of Angeal and the others and your mouth shut from anymore complaints."

With a small growl of dissatisfaction, Cloud complied and kept quiet while keeping an eye out for the others. A few seconds later, though, they noticed some kind of construction project going on ahead towards the right side of the freeway. A flashing portable billboard next to the area said, "End of the highway. Exit towards the left." Right next to that was a pile of wooden debris that looked as though somebody ran their car right through the construction barricade.

"I think we finally figured out where the end of the highway is buddy," Zack said as he stopped just a foot or so away from where the barricade was smashed through. "If this sign here and the smashed pile of wood isn't a clear indication of it, then I don't know what is."

"The guys are probably thinking that the empty portion of the freeway would be a good place to be picked up by the helicopter," Cloud thought out loud as he felt the motorcycle slowly ride over the wood pieces before picking up its normal speed down the desolate road, dodging the occasional orange cone that was common of a construction zone. "It would make sense as to why they chose here of all places to meet up with Tseng. There'd be more places for him to land."

"Well, there's only one way for us to find out, and that's to follow this closed-off section and see for ourselves," the SOLDIER replied as they passed all of the small cones and other barricades in front of them. "If we're lucky, then we'll see them down the road soon. If we're not, then we can always just drive back to the main road and continue on from there."

"Well, won't we feel stupid then if we end up going the wrong way," the blond stated sarcastically. "Fat chance of that actually happening here, though. I mean, what are the chances of there being two places on this highway subjected to construction within less than a mile away from each other? Pretty slim, if you ask me."

"Alright, enough of your sarcastic remarks here, Spiky. How about giving me some words of encouragement here or something along the lines of that? I could really use them right about now."

"And if I actually said something encouraging to you, you would probably say something about how unusually peppy I'm feeling right now or something along those lines. I've been your friend long enough, even though it's only been a few months at most, to know how you'll answer me if I say something."

Without saying anything, the raven haired teen simply rolled his eyes and purposely made Fenrir lurch a bit, forcing the cadet to tighten his grip on his chest out of slight fear. Inside though, he was smiling. Of course he knew he was going to say something like that if Cloud was trying to be encouraging. He was just trying to have a little fun and mess around with him while he had the chance. After all, they did just escape from the Hell on Gaia and they deserved this calming moment after surviving against killer monsters for a good chunk of the night. He could not feel any safer right at that moment than he ever did earlier in night, and he was sure Cloud was thinking the same thing as well.


	37. The End of a Nightmare Or Is It?

Hello everybody! Sorry for the obscenely long time it took for me to update this story. I had a lot of other things to do, and they distracted me from this story. That and I kept getting new ideas for stories that wouldn't go away. Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait and I thank all of my loyal readers for being patient with me. This story is almost done and I have no intention of abandoning it at this stage.

Just be prepared for another long update for this story since I'm about to start college in a month and I'm right now in the groove of my other stories. Rest assured, though, that this story will be finished sometime in the future. I hope this chapter was worth the wait for all of you. Don't forget to leave a review.

Please read some of my other stories while you patiently wait for this one to be updated and finished. Thank you and see you at the next update!

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Chapter 35: The End of a Nightmare... Or Is It?**

After traveling down the barricaded section of the highway for a couple of minutes, the two teens finally found what they were looking for. They found the truck that the others used to escape parked on the side of the road next to a couple of heavy-duty construction equipment. Next to the truck was Adeus, who looked as though he was trying to prevent Angeal from climbing into the vehicle. A few yards away from them were the three Turks huddled together and seemingly communicating with Tseng on one of their phones.

"Well, it looks as though we went the right way after all Cloud," Zack stated as the roar of Fenrir's engine quickly caught the attention of the people who rode their way here in the truck. "I guess there's no need for you to feel stupid about going the wrong way now, right?"

Before Cloud could reply, the young SOLDIER slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel at the same time so that the motorcycle would slide to a stop at a sideways angle. Once they fully stopped, he quickly kicked the bike stand down and hopped off of it, motioning for the blond to do the same.

"Humph, it's about time that you two showed up," Angeal said as he walked away from the truck and calmly towards them with Adeus following closely behind. "I was beginning to wonder just what was taking you so long to get here. I was about to go and see for myself."

"It sounded more as if you were really worried about them than just innocent wondering," Adeus said as he approached them, looking better than he did when they last saw each other. "You were complaining about how unnaturally long it was taking for them to get here. If I wasn't here, you'd probably be driving back to the Shinra Building in the damn truck trying to figure out what was holding them up."

"I'd rather that you don't speak of that again Adeus," the older SOLDIER requested coolly as his cheeks had ever the slightest tinge of red on them, although it was hard to see unless you really took a hard look at the man. "They don't need to know what happened during the few minutes they weren't here. Besides, it's something that I find embarrassing and would rather that they stay in the dark about."

"Sorry but it's kind of a bit late for that, Angeal," Zack replied as he had his trademark grin on his face in combination with a small chuckle at seeing his mentor embarrassed, a sight that was totally rare for him. "It's nice to know that you were worried about me and Cloud here, though. We're you really that worried, though; that you wanted to try and ride the truck back to the Shinra Building just so you could see what was taking us two so long? It kind of sounds a bit extreme in terms of how you normally act and all that."

"True worry and terror comes in all kinds of different forms Pup. If allowed to take over your system, it can cause you to do things that you wouldn't normally do. I had one such episode, and I'd rather you didn't rub it in. That was not one of my brightest moments as a normally calm SOLDIER."

"I'll say," the raven haired teen playfully rubbed in, despite what his mentor had just asked him to not do. "I never thought that I would here you, of all people, having a panic attack like that. Good old Angeal having a panic attack over his student and his cadet friend being left inside a building of death is something I never thought I'd be hearing about in a million years."

At this remark, the older SOLDIER simply shook his head at his student's childishness of the situation. He half expected for Zack to have been acting this way, and even though it was not the most favorable attitude he preferred, it was still one he found relaxing. After all, it was in the puppy's nature to act that way and it would be completely different if he acted any differently. He would not want the teen to be acting in any other way than this.

"Ahem, if you four are done messing around with each other," Reno addressed them in a rather amused tone with as he cleared his throat in a rather obnoxious way. "I need to tell you about how we're planning to be proceeding from here on out. We just finished talking with Tseng and he's thinking on landing his helicopter here on this empty part of the highway."

"And how long is it going to take for him to get here?" Cloud asked after he took a quick look behind him. For some odd reason, he had a weird tingling sensation running down the back of his spine and he felt that something was behind him. "I don't think I really want to be in this city anymore, not after what I went through inside the Shinra Building."

"I don't really blame you for feeling that way Cloud," Angeal said in an agreeing tone as he looked back in the direction they came from. "I'm feeling the same way as you, as a matter of fact. Besides, I'm sure the four of us earlier tonight said that we were going to part ways with the company once we got out of there alive. What did you say your plans were again?"

"I'm going straight back to my home in Nibelheim and go back to living with my mom," the blond answered as he looked at the others around him. "It's the only place I have left that I can call home and run back to where I can hopefully try to forget everything that's happened here tonight. I'm telling you, this is one nightmare that I really don't want to remember."

"Oh, I hear you loud and clear on that buddy," Zack agreed with the young cadet as he ruffled the spiky blond hair in a playful way. "I don't think anybody here wants to remember tonight. I'm going to be doing the same as you, except that I'm going to go back to Gongaga. I haven't been back to my hometown ever since I became a SOLDIER here, so a visit back home is long overdue at this point."

"Well, once Tseng gets here with the helicopter, I'm sure it'll be more than easy to get you guys to where you want to go," the red headed Turk said after being left out of the conversation for a while now. "After all, we can practically go anywhere with that thing of his."

"…If we had your helicopter with us, then we don't really have to wait for him," Rude stated as he turned his head from Cissnei, whom he was speaking with still. "Then again, I guess it couldn't have been helped that it decided to have engine problems right before we landed here. I can only imagine what's happening to the poor thing sitting by itself just outside of the Midgar walls."

"Uh, you do know that it wasn't really my fault, right Rude?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "These technical difficulties sometimes like to come up at the worst of times. This just happened to be one of those moments. How was I supposed to know that something like that was going to happen? It was just a totally random thing that decided to happen at the worst time possible."

"As unfortunate as it was to lose the helicopter in such a fashion, I do admit that the cruel act of fate wasn't your fault," the bald Turk admitted coolly as he took off his shades and quickly cleaned them before he placed them back over his eyes. "I acknowledge that what happened with the engine was a complete random act of fate. I was just merely stating the facts here, however unfortunate and possibly discouraging they may have been."

"At least we managed to get through to Tseng before he got too far from here," Cissnei added in a pleasant tone. "It would have been bad if he had gotten too far and couldn't turn back to pick us up. Now we just need to figure out what we're going to do with the situation inside the Shinra Building. I still can't believe that it's overrun by all of those zombies and killer monsters. I find it even harder to believe that it was Professor Hojo who made all of those abominations and let them run loose throughout the entirety of the building."

"Well, it's time that you start believing it, Cissnei," the young raven haired SOLDIER replied with a small sigh escaping his lips. "I always knew that there was something off about the guy when I first met him for the routine check-up of all would-be SOLDIERs. He just had that weird aura about him, and I see that I was right about that the entire time. I hope that shows _someone_ that I wasn't just imagining the whole thing the entire time."

"It was normal for me to think that you were just coming up with excuses in order to avoid seeing the professor for your physical," Angeal stated as he knew that Zack was talking to him on that. "Don't forget that I've been a member of SOLDIER longer than you pup. I've seen and heard a lot of things that other SOLDIER hopefuls have done. I knew that you didn't like him a lot, and I thought you were just trying to fool around with me until I cracked and said that you could skip seeing him. I see now that I was only half-right on that."

"Well, I suppose it's better late than never, right?" he replied with a small shrug of his shoulders as he stole a glance back at where the Shinra building was, even though he could not see it from his position. "I still can't believe that Sephiroth was actually in league with the professor on this and wanted to make himself a part of the Lifestream so he could govern the entire world from there. I didn't think that such a respectable man like him could stoop to such a level and throw everything that he had created for himself away as if it were nothing but useless trash."

"Well, figuring out that you have a chance at immense power and all that other good stuff can easily mess around with your head, regardless of who you are," Reno stated as he played around with his bangs a bit out of boredom. "It'd have to take a great sense of both righteousness and will power in order to resist the urge to do anything to achieve great power. In the general's case, he might have had the will power to move away from it, but he lost his righteousness somewhere along the way. That's what pretty much did him in there."

"…I never thought you'd be able to come up with something as philosophical as that, Reno," Rude stated with light surprise lacing his monotonous voice. "This is literally the first I've heard of you talking like this in all the years I've been partnered up with you. Did you happen to get hit in the head or something sometime during our fight with Sephiroth earlier?"

"Just because I don't usually spit out these kinds of things doesn't mean that I don't have the capability to do so, Rude," the red-head replied with a slight snarl as he stopped playing around with his bangs. "I just prefer to not talk like that. It makes me sound all sappy and stupid instead of the cool and chill style I prefer. You get what I'm saying here?"

"Speaking of Sephiroth," Adeus spoke up after being quiet for most of the conversation, "what happened to him when we left you and Cloud behind, Zack? I don't think you just simply managed to get away from the general without at least coming up with something to preoccupy him. You probably wouldn't have been able to get away otherwise."

"Well, we managed to make the crazy guy distracted for a moment while trying to sic a zombie on him," Zack explained as he smiled widely at the memory. "Believe it or not, that plan actually came from Cloud here. He was the one who thought of me distracting the guy while he casually found a zombie and push the thing onto Sephiroth. It wasn't easy, but we somehow managed to make a dent in his concentration long enough for that plan to work."

"And I must say that that was not the proudest moment of my life," an all too familiar voice cut through the Midgar night, scaring the entire group out of their wits. "I have truly underestimated the abilities of all of you. Now that I know your true potential, I will not be running the risk of making the same mistake again."

Frantically, the entire group started to look everywhere around them in search of the location of the voice, Sephiroth's voice. They looked at every spot they thought he could possibly be at, but they could not find him anywhere. That was when they heard him laugh in a rather evil fashion.

"I find it rather amusing that you are all trying so hard to find me and failing miserably at it," the General continued to laugh as he watched on from wherever it was he was hiding. "If you are all so intent on finding me, then I suggest you look up rather than all around you. I guarantee you that you will have better luck if you do so."

Taking the man's advice, they all simultaneously turned their heads upwards and were instantly surprised at what their eyes saw. Up in the sky was the man who they were looking all around for. Despite what reality was telling them at this point, there was no denying that they were really seeing what they were seeing. Sephiroth was floating in mid-air with his Masamune gripped firmly in his left hand as he looked down upon them with an evil smile adorning his lips. His eyes gleamed dangerously under the light of the city around them. The source of his flotation was located on his back; a single ebon black wing that was almost overlooked in the pitch black sky lazily flapping every second or so in order to maintain constant altitude.

"I believe that the time for games is over now," the man stated monotonously as his evil smirk continued to grow along with the malice being reflected in his eyes. "Once I finish you all off, nothing shall stand in my way of my plans to go into the Lifestream and governing this world!"


End file.
